KYIV (Parliament Politics Magazine) – During his address to the UN General Assembly in New York, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia must receive “just punishment” for its invasion of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president demanded the establishment of a unique war tribunal and described alleged war crimes committed by Russia in a pre-recorded video.
Additionally, he outlined a “formula” that included increasing military assistance and punishing Russia internationally.
Vladimir Putin of Russia had earlier called up about 300,000 reservists for duty.
Rare protests were sparked by the action in dozens of Russian cities, and Mr. Zelensky claimed that the partial mobilisation proved his enemy was not sincere in his desire for peace. OVD-Info, the monitoring group said that 1,315 Russians had been detained.
Zelensky said that setting up a special tribunal would aid in holding Moscow accountable for annexing land and killing thousands of people. Many of the participants in the session gave him a standing ovation after his speech on Wednesday.
Despite Russia’s determination to intensify its military campaign, the two sides participated in the largest prisoner exchange since the war’s beginning.
215 fighters, including 10 foreigners, were sent back to the Ukrainian side in a deal mediated by Saudi Arabia, while Russia got 55 soldiers back. Viktor Medvechuk, a pro-Russian politician, was also a part of the exchange. He was accused of treason and was regarded as President Putin’s closest ally in Ukraine.
108 members of the Azov battalion, who resisted Russia’s bombing of Mariupol and the steel plant of the city for weeks, were reportedly among those freed, Ukraine said. Five senior officers were released, including the battalion commander and his deputy.
Ten foreign prisoners, including two Americans and five Britons, detained by forces backed by Russia, were also freed.
In his speech to the UN, Mr. Zelensky denounced Russian plans to hold fictitious referendums on joining Russia in Ukraine’s occupied regions. The vote, which is scheduled to begin on Friday, has been roundly denounced by Western leaders as a sham.
He discussed the finding of 445 new graves in Izyum, a city in the northeast that was just recently retaken by Ukrainian forces from Russia after Ukraine’s massive counteroffensive.
Mr. Zelensky went into detail about accusations of war crimes in the city, including one man who was allegedly castrated and killed.
He questioned, “Why are the Russian military so obsessed with castration?
In Mr. Zelensky’s address, the term “punishment” appeared about 15 times. It was the first of his five non-negotiable requirements for peace.
He asserted that more sanctions and the UN stripping Moscow of its influential position as a permanent Security Council member would be appropriate responses to ensure Russia faced the consequences for such aggression. Â
He also demanded that the country’s internationally recognised borders be respected and that Ukrainian lives be protected.
He listed fresh security assurances for Kyiv and for the world to unite in denouncing Moscow’s actions of armed aggression as his fourth and fifth conditions.Â
Later on Wednesday, the head of EU foreign policy said that further sanctions against Russia had been agreed upon by EU member states.
Josep Borrell said that the new sanctions would target both Russian individuals and the nation’s economic sectors.
Zelensky praised the 101 UN member states that voted to allow him to address the assembly by video rather than in person while wearing his trademark green T-shirt.
He criticised the seven nations, including Russia, who abstained from voting on his video appearance and others who remained neutral during the conflict.
