Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Vasily Nebenzya, today accused Ukraine of “falsifying its own history”, citing the example of so-called textbooks that teach that “Portuguese are descended from ancient Ukrainians”.
“We have already shown in this room Ukrainian textbooks that claim that Jews, French, Portuguese and many other peoples are descended from the ancient Ukrainians. What good can come from this historical delirium and heresy?” Nebenzya asked. without, however, presenting a contextualization of the material in these books.
The Russian diplomat accused the Ukrainian authorities of this during a meeting of the UN Security Council “brainwashing its own citizens”, “Indoctrination of absolutely false ideas about their country and its role in global civilization and culture”.
Today’s meeting, at a time when the United States presides over the Security Council, coincided with the anniversary of Ukraine’s declaration of independence in 1991, and also marked a year and a half since the start of the Russian invasion on February 24, 2022.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Sergíy Kyslytsya took the opportunity to call for “the end of the cycle of impunity” towards Russia, arguing that since 1991 the first case of Russian occupation has taken place precisely in the Security Council, where Moscow spent his time. to occupy the permanent seat that previously belonged to the Soviet Union, which also included Ukraine and other former republics.
“The Russian occupation of the permanent seat of the Council and adjacent areas constituted a violation of the Charter of the United Nations. However, the reaction of the international community encouraged Russia to continue on this path and served as carte blanche to continue violating all fundamental principles. principles of the Charter of the United Nations,” Kyslytsya criticized.
Today’s meeting also had a strong focus on the issue of Ukrainian children abducted by Russian authorities, with Kyslytsya explaining that after deportation to Russia or the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, children are “exposed to aggressive brainwashing aimed at consciousness and erase their Ukrainian identity. and prepare obedient soldiers for the Russian army in the future”.
“A new school year will start in Ukraine in a week. The Russian Federation has already printed piles of textbooks, for Ukrainian children, with their twisted ‘reality’,” he also accused.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that while estimates vary, Russia has forcibly transferred or deported thousands of Ukrainian children since February 2022, including babies as young as four months old.
“According to reports, children in these camps are subjected to propaganda, brainwashing and even military training. Some are being pressured to accept Russian citizenship and others are reportedly adopted into Russian families. We will hear Russian authorities say that the transfer of children is part of “humanitarian evacuations”. But this is a gross perversion of reality and a futile attempt to justify the unjustified,” the diplomat stressed.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for the “illegal deportation” of thousands of Ukrainian children since February 2022, allegations rejected by Moscow.
In April this year, the Russian ambassador accused Portugal, Spain and Germany of taking “hundreds” of Ukrainian children from their mothers to place them in shelters in their respective territories after testifying about these alleged cases.
The veracity of the testimonies presented by the mission of the Russian Federation to the UN in a video presented by Russia at an informal meeting of the Security Council cannot be verified.
At the time, Vasily Nebenzya accused Western countries of trying to cover up the fact that in European countries children were being taken away from Ukrainian refugees.
The ambassador then mentioned Portugal, Spain and Germany as examples of countries where this is happening.
Subsequently, the Portuguese government “strongly” rejected the accusations made by the Russian ambassador to the UN.
Source: DN
