Mr. President,

As a party to core international human rights instruments, Ukraine condemns all forms of intolerance and remains committed to combating racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related abuses worldwide.

Today, Russia is cynically reviving some of the darkest practices of the past. In the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, it imposes systemic discrimination. These actions constitute a blatant violation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as confirmed by the International Court of Justice.

This landmark ruling highlighted discrimination against ethnic Ukrainians, including the destruction of Ukrainian-language education, as well as restrictions on the rights of the Crimean Tatar people. Nevertheless, Russia continues to downplay and distort the Court’s findings on discrimination in Crimea.

Russia’s policies are pursuing measures aimed at deliberate demographic changes in temporarily occupied territories, in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Russia`s steps towards erasing Ukrainian identity - through enforced inception of Russian citizenship, wiping out all traces of Ukrainian statehood and national culture, the forced deportation of children and efforts to conceal their identity – are unacceptable.

We call on the international community to strengthen joint efforts to eradicate discrimination, intolerance, and xenophobia manifested in Russia’s war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine.

Thank you!