Verkhovna Rada calls on the world to recognise russia’s shelling of Okhmatdyt as a terrorist act
8 July 2024 22:29
In a joint statement, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine calls on international partners to respond to russia’s shelling of civilian infrastructure and the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital and recognise such actions as a terrorist act
This was reported by the press service of the Verkhovna Rada, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports.
“Today, on 8 July 2024, the russian federation committed one of the bloodiest war crimes during its illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine,” the statement reads.
The attack targeted peaceful Ukrainian cities, where Russian missiles hit residential buildings, medical facilities and civilian infrastructure, the statement said. The deputies called the targeted missile attack by the russians on the largest and oldest children’s hospital in Ukraine, the National Children’s Specialised Hospital “Okhmatdyt”, where thousands of children from all over the country are treated, unprecedented in its cruelty.
“This heinous crime against the least protected and most vulnerable – sick children – has no explanation and is striking in its inhuman nature,” the statement reads.
The Verkhovna Rada recalled that since the beginning of russia’s large-scale armed aggression, 214 medical infrastructure facilities have been destroyed beyond repair, and 1630 facilities have been damaged.
According to the deputies, the russian attack on Okhmatdyt requires a tough response from the United Nations Security Council, “but the UN Security Council is currently chaired by a terrorist state, the Russian Federation, which, contrary to the UN Charter, has acquired the status of a UN member and the status of a permanent member of its Security Council.
This indicates a systemic degradation of the system of international organisations and necessitates the search for new effective security mechanisms, the Verkhovna Rada said.
Today – on the eve of the NATO Washington Summit – we regard this criminal attack by the russian Federation as a cynical signal to the Alliance, dictated by the russians’ confidence in their complete impunity. This terrorist attack requires a special response from Allies. Further delay in taking effective measures to counter russia’s aggression will only encourage the aggressor to scale up its crimes and continue its genocidal practices,
– the statement reads.
Its authors added: “With today’s attack, russia has shown that it seeks neither peace nor negotiations and has no intention of abandoning its aggressive goal of destroying Ukraine.
In this regard, the parliamentarians call on international partners to provide Ukraine with all the necessary weapons, including Patriot and SAMP/T air defence systems, missiles for them, long-range weapons, artillery systems and shells, UAVs and electronic warfare systems in sufficient quantities, as well as to lift restrictions on the use of this equipment so that our country can defend itself against russian terror.
In addition, Ukrainian politicians called on governments and parliaments of other states, universal and regional international organisations and their parliamentary institutions to immediately respond to the “barbaric attack committed by the russian federation and recognise it as an act of terrorism”.
The statement also calls on the international community to take all possible measures to investigate this and other crimes and to bring to justice and fairly punish all those responsible.
