December 29, 2023
Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya said that, as long as the Russian Federation is able to kill the credibility and integrity of the Security Council, it will “feel free” to kill innocent people in Ukraine and beyond.
He expressed gratitude to the 32 Member States who supported his request for this urgent meeting, following another wave of air terror against Ukraine.
Overnight, the Russian Federation launched one of its most intense and massive missile and drone attacks on Ukraine, targeting residential areas, critical infrastructure and industrial and military facilities across Ukraine.
According to preliminary reports, the Russian Federation launched at least 158 weapons units, including 122 missiles of various types and 36 unmanned aerial vehicles.
Russian Federation forces attacked with “Shahed” drones from the north and south-east, advancing westward.
They continued their bombardments all night and into the morning. Ukraine’s Defence Forces were able to intercept 87 cruise missiles and 27 Shahed drones, thus saving the lives of innocent civilians.
Even a single missile or drone that is not intercepted can cause a lot of harm. Unfortunately, the overnight attack has increased the scale of pain among Ukrainian people, he said.
At least 30 civilian Ukrainians were killed and more than 160 were wounded by Russian Federation missiles and drones — in Kyiv, Zaporizhzhya, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa, Lviv, Smila and Konotop, he continued.
“Just look at the list of targets that were so ‘bravely’ destroyed by Russia last night,” he said, listing a maternity ward, educational facilities, a shopping mall, 45 multi-story residential buildings, private houses, 2 churches, commercial and storage facilities and a parking lot.
Noting reports of a Russian Federation missile intruding into the air space of Poland during the Russian Federation strike, he reiterated that Russian Federation’s air terror poses a dangerous threat to neighbouring countries, as well.
According to the data released by Ukrainian Air Forces a week ago, the Russian Federation has fired 7,400 missiles and 3,700 attack drones at different targets throughout Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion.
Meanwhile, the “brainwashed” Russian Federation society is full of hatred towards most of the world — not only towards Ukraine.
“I have nothing to say to the Russian representative here in this Chamber,” he said, adding: “Like his superiors in Moscow, he is a person with an amputated conscience and emasculated dignity.”