United Nations: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is scheduled to address the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, the first time he will address the most powerful UN organ since Russia's invasion of his country and after streets strewn with corpses of what appeared to be civilians were found in the suburbs of Kyiv, sparking worldwide horror and condemnation. The UK is the President of the Security Council for the month of April and it announced in a tweet on Monday that Zelenskyy will virtually address Tuesday's Security Council meeting on Ukraine following his visit to the Kyiv suburb of Bucha. This will be the first time that Zelenskyy addresses the Security Council since Russia's February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Russia is a veto-wielding permanent member of the Council.
The Council and the General Assembly have held several meetings, including a rare Emergency Special Session in the 193-member Assembly on the situation in Ukraine. The UK Presidency of the Council will ensure the truth is heard about Russia's war crimes. We will expose (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's war for what it really is, the UK Mission to the UN said. Images and videos of people lying dead on the streets of Bucha, some with their hands tied behind them, drew global condemnation and calls for investigation and tougher actions against Russia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he is deeply shocked by the images of civilians killed in Bucha. It is essential that an independent investigation leads to effective accountability, he said.
Read:Russia faces global outrage over bodies in Ukraine's streets
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said that she is horrified by the images of civilians lying dead on the streets and in improvised graves in the town of Bucha in Ukraine. Reports emerging from this and other areas raise serious and disturbing questions about possible war crimes as well as grave breaches of international humanitarian law and serious violations of international human rights law, she said, adding that it is essential that all bodies are exhumed and identified so that victims' families can be informed, and the exact causes of death established. All measures should be taken to preserve evidence, Bachelet said. It is vital that all efforts are made to ensure there are independent and effective investigations into what happened in Bucha to ensure truth, justice and accountability, as well as reparations and remedy for victims and their families, she added.
US Ambassador at UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters in Bucharest, Romania that Washington, in close coordination with Ukraine, European countries and other partners at the UN, is going to seek Russia's suspension from the UN Human Rights Council. A hundred-and-forty UN Member States have already voted to condemn Russia over its unprovoked war and the humanitarian crisis it has unleashed upon the people of Ukraine. My message to those 140 countries who have courageously stood together is simple: the images out of Bucha and devastation across Ukraine require us now to match our words with action. We cannot let a Member State that is subverting every principle we hold dear to continue to sit on the UN Human Rights Council, Thomas-Greenfield said. She was referring to the UN Member States who voted in favour of General Assembly resolutions deploring Russian action and demanding that Moscow immediately withdraw its forces and cease hostilities.