Remarks by the delegation of Ukraine

during the Interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance Ashwini K.P.

4 November 2025

Chair,

Ukraine thanks the Special Rapporteur for her briefing and takes note of her report.

We reaffirm our strongest condemnation of Nazism, neo-Nazism, and all contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance.

As we mark the 60th anniversary of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, Russia continues to flagrantly violate its principles and international law. Its war of aggression against Ukraine mirrors some of the darkest chapters of history — mass killings of civilians, torture, forced deportations, and systematic attacks on schools and hospitals.

This ideology of hatred and imperial revanchism — what Ukrainians call Ruscism — represents a modern manifestation of Nazism, targeting our people, culture, and identity.

In occupied territories, Russia persecutes Crimean Tatars, bans the Ukrainian language in schools, and seeks to erase Ukrainian identity through forced assimilation — actions that may amount to cultural genocide.

We regret that the report does not address Russia’s cynical misuse of the “combating against neo-Nazism” as a false pretext to justify its aggression and crimes.

Madam Special Rapporteur, your mandate is critical for identifying early warning signs of these dangerous phenomena. How can your mandate better address such manipulative narratives and prevent the misuse of anti-racism agendas to justify aggression and crimes against humanity?

Thank you.