Thank you, Mr. President,

We extend our gratitude to the High Commissioner for presenting the Office’s report, which exposes the brutal and systematic violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law committed by the Russian Federation in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine. The document before us leaves no doubt: the international community cannot ignore the ongoing human rights catastrophe in this territory.

The report documents widespread patterns of forcible transfers and unlawful deportations, affecting thousands of civilians in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Crimea, highlighting a deliberate strategy by Russia to terrorize civilians, suppress dissent, and punish those who refuse to abandon their homes or comply with Russia’s illegal policies.

These are not accidental consequences of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine - they are deliberate acts of oppression, enforced through threats, detention, torture, and persecution under illegitimate laws. Here, I would like to remind Russia that the forcible removal of protected persons from the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine - whether individually or en masse, and regardless of their destination - is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

As highlighted in the report, the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation in 2022 triggered mass displacement, with 12.7 million Ukrainians displaced in the first two months alone, as people fled hostilities, becoming internally displaced persons within Ukraine or moving abroad.

The Russian policy on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine has effectively turned this land into open-air prisons, where people are targeted, intimidated, and imprisoned solely for their language, beliefs, or identity. Resistance to occupation, peaceful expression of identity, or refusal to comply

with Russian orders is met with harsh retribution, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

Moreover, since early 2024, the occupiers have accelerated large-scale expropriation of assets across temporarily occupied parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine, including the seizure of tens of thousands of homes and apartments. By systematically displacing populations and seizing private property, including homes, businesses, and cultural institutions, Russia is deliberately erasing the social fabric of Ukrainian communities aiming to impose permanent control over temporarily occupied territory, in blatant violation of international law. These acts constitute undeniable war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The atrocities committed by Russia represent only the tip of the iceberg of its war crimes. The international community must act decisively to hold the Kremlin accountable, ensure justice for the victims, and prevent the normalization of occupation policies that flagrantly violate international law.

High Commissioner,

Despite facing relentless aggression, Ukraine remains unyielding in its commitment to international law. We demand that the Russian Federation immediately cease all violations and dismantle its coercive policies. As the occupying power, Russia bears full responsibility for the ongoing human suffering, widespread destruction, and deliberate demographic engineering of in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.

Ukraine will continue to cooperate fully with the United Nations to protect human rights, secure the release of detainees and prisoners of war, and restore the lives of Ukrainians deprived of safety, homes, and dignity by the Russian occupiers.

We call on UN Member States to unequivocally condemn Russia’s terror, hold it accountable, and send a clear message to the Kremlin: the world will not tolerate the killing, abduction, and expulsion of civilians, including children, nor the erasure of Ukraine’s sovereignty.

We also call for international support for stopping Russia’s war of aggression and restore comprehensive, just and lasting peace for Ukraine, based on the international law, including the UN Charter. Only restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine and de-occupation of the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine will ensure respect to the human rights of our people on this territory.

It will also allow safe return of Ukrainian citizens, who were forced to leave their homes due to the Russia’s armed aggression.

I thank you.