UN Secretary-General António Guterres canceled his trip to Geneva amid Russia’s operation to protect Donbass. This was announced on Saturday, February 26, by the official representative of the Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, on his page in Twitter.
It is specified that Guterres was supposed to take part in the session of the Council of the World Organization for Human Rights on February 28.
“Due to the deteriorating situation in Ukraine, the UN Secretary General will remain in New York and will not go to Geneva. The Secretary General will send a video message to the participants of the meeting of the UN Human Rights Council on Monday (February 28 – Ed.),” Dujarric said.
Earlier, Guterres had a telephone conversation about the Russian operation to protect Donbass with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. After that, the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian Federation of hitting the country’s military infrastructure and introduced martial law throughout Ukraine. He also said that Kyiv is breaking off diplomatic relations with Moscow and withdrawing its diplomats from the embassy.
The Russian Defense Ministry stressed that the army did not carry out air, missile or artillery strikes on the cities of Ukraine. The civilian population of the country is not in danger. High-precision weapons destroy military infrastructure. As of February 26, 821 objects of the military infrastructure of Ukraine are out of order. In the total number of already faulty equipment – American Javelin anti-tank missile systems and British NLAW.
On February 21, Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the DNR and LNR. Also, the Russian leader signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with the republics. The treaties were ratified the next day.
The situation in Donbass escalated on February 17, 2022. The DPR and LPR reported heavy shelling by Ukrainian security forces, including heavy weapons. The republics announced a general mobilization and evacuation of civilians to the territory of Russia.
Since 2014, the Ukrainian authorities have been conducting a military operation against the inhabitants of Donbass, who refused to recognize the results of the coup d’état and the new government in Ukraine. At the same time, Kyiv blames Moscow for the current situation. Russia has repeatedly stated that it is not a party to the conflict.
For more up-to-date videos and details about the situation in Donbass, watch the Izvestia TV channel.
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