Yet again KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to the United Nations Security Board on Wednesday to take action to stop Russian air strikes targeting vital infrastructure that have plunged Ukrainian urban communities into darkness and cold as winter sets in.
Russia unleashed a rocket barrage across Ukraine earlier in the day, forcing closures of nuclear power plants and killing civilians in Kyiv.
"Today is only one day however we have received 70 rockets. That's the Russian formula of dread," Zelenskyy said via video link to the board chamber in New York, adding that hospitals, schools, transport infrastructure and residential areas had all been hit.Ukraine is waiting to see "an extremely firm reaction" to Wednesday's air strikes from the world, he added.
The gathering is probably not going to take any action in response to the appeal since Russia is a part with veto power.
Zelenskyy called for Russia to be denied a decision on any decision concerning its actions.
"We cannot be hostage to one international fear based oppressor," he said. "Russia is doing everything to make an energy generator a more useful asset than the UN Charter."
US ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Putin was "clearly weaponizing winter to inflict massive suffering on the Ukrainian public."
The Russian president "will attempt to freeze the country into submission," she added.
Russia's UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya responded by complaining that it was against gathering rules for Zelenskyy to appear via video, and rejected what he called "crazy threats and ultimatums" by Ukraine and its supporters in the West.
Nebenzya said damage to Ukraine's infrastructure was caused by rockets fired via air guard frameworks that crashed into civilian areas after being fired at Russia's rockets, and called on the West to stop providing Ukraine with air safeguard rockets.
