Russian Official Wanted for War Crimes Set To Brief UN Security Council Meeting

On Wednesday, the Russian commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, who has been accused of war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), is scheduled to speak at an informal United Nations Security Council meeting regarding the conflict in Ukraine.

The ICC has held Russian President Vladimir Putin and Lvova-Belova responsible for the kidnapping of hundreds of Ukrainian children during the war. Despite this, Russia, which has taken over the Security Council’s rotating presidency for April, declared that Lvova-Belova would address the meeting, according to Reuters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed anger over Russia’s control of the council. “It’s hard to imagine anything that proves more the total bankruptcy of such institutions,” he said.

The United States suggested that Russia “conduct itself professionally” during its leadership of the council.

As per a note from Russia to the council members, “participants will hear ‘first-hand’ information from the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights of the Russian Federation, as well as from children evacuated from the conflict area.”

Russia asserts that its efforts pursue humanitarian objectives.

Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, described the situation as “like an April Fool’s joke.”

Additionally, NATO welcomed Finland, Russia’s neighbour, to its ranks, which is a setback for Putin’s attempts to contain NATO’s expansion.

Last week, Russia’s Federal Security Service arrested American journalist Evan Gershkovich on espionage charges, which could attract up to twenty years in prison, while covering the Ukraine war.