STATEMENT

by Prime Minister of Ukraine H.E. Ms. Yuliia Svyrydenko at the UN Security Council meeting on “Maintenance of peace and security of Ukraine”

29 August 2025

 

Mr. President,

I am honored to address today the UN Security Council, and I am grateful to the Presidency of Panama for convening this emergency meeting at Ukraine’s request.

We asked for this meeting as the Council should not be sidelined in addressing Russia’s terror attack yesterday. The Charter entrusts the Council with a primary responsibility – to maintain international peace and security.

For the people of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, my native Chernihiv, and many other regions across Ukraine, there have been neither peace nor security.

Just yesterday’s night, Russia employed 629 airborne weapons.

There were Shahed strike drones and other UAVs. There were cruise, ballistic and aeroballistic missiles.

Russia again targeted residential buildings and claimed innocent lives. As of now – 25 people were killed, including four children.

Sixty-three others were injured, among them 11 children.

The youngest victim was a girl not yet three years old. Born under Russian shelling in October 2022, she was killed by Russian shelling in August 2025.

Among other civilian facilities, the strike also severely damaged the premises of the EU Delegation to Ukraine. An attack on a diplomatic mission is utterly unacceptable and demands strong condemnation and an appropriate response from the international community.

We are grateful to all who have expressed solidarity with Ukraine and its people following the Russian heinous attack. I would particularly like to thank the UN Secretary-General for his strong condemnation of Russia’s shelling and for supporting efforts to achieve a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace in line with the UN Charter. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with the Secretary-General yesterday to discuss the necessary steps to stop the killings.

At the same time, alongside words of support, we value concrete actions that both strengthen our defense capabilities and save human lives.

Ukraine urgently requires additional air defense systems to protect our people and territory, as well as long-range strike capabilities to neutralize Russian military facilities from which attacks are launched.

Distinguished members,  

Let me be clear: these killings are deliberate acts of terror. It is an informed decision, taken by Moscow, to continue its systematic campaign to terrorize civilians and extinguish any semblance of normal life.

Yesterday, Russians again responded brutally to our attempts to engage them in a civilized dialogue — in the language of international law, peace, and respect for human life. Russia continues to choose killing over ending the war.

We should take this into account in our efforts aimed at peaceful resolution and establishment of reliable security guarantees.

These guarantees shall protect both – Ukraine’s sovereignty and the lives of Ukrainian people, especially children.

Our people must feel safe already today. That is why a ceasefire — remains an essential prerequisite for successful negotiations.

How can genuine talks be conducted while Russia’s contribution remains the bodies of Ukrainian children retrieved from the rubble?

Russia is a recognized perpetrator of crimes against children. For the third consecutive year, Russia has been placed on the “shame list” in the Secretary General reports on Children and Armed Conflict.

Yesterday, Russia’s airstrike on Kyiv killed four children.

Since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, at least twenty Ukrainian children have been sexually abused by Russian forces.

Another two thousand one hundred thirty-nine have been wounded.

And two thousand one hundred ninety-three remain missing.

Tens of thousands more have been stolen.

One point six million trapped under Russian control in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

Ten-month-old Marharyta Prokopenko was among them. In 2022, Russian officials took her from the Kherson Children’s Home. In Moscow, her documents were forged. She was given a new Russian birth certificate. With a new name. They faked her birthplace, too. She was later adopted by Sergey Mironov. A politician close to Putin. Now she’s Maryna Mironova. From Podolsk, Moscow region.

A Ukrainian baby stolen. Her name wiped away. Her identity destroyed.

Marharyta’s case is not isolated. It is a policy. Ukrainian children are stripped of family, language, and memory.

Mr. President,

Russia kills children from a distance with missiles and drones. And those who fall under its control – it steals. Russia erases their Ukrainian identity. Children are forced to forget who they are. Some are drafted into Russia’s army. They kill and die fighting against their own people.

The Council cannot stay silent. Child abduction must end. And every Ukrainian child must be returned home now – before more lives are shattered.

Russia’s unlawful war must be stopped. All killings and attacks must stop. Violations of the UN Charter must stop. And we all know, they will stop as soon as Russia is stopped.

That is what our soldiers are doing on the ground – stopping Russia’s advance.

That is what we expect from the international community in global fora. Peace requires both strengthening security assistance to Ukraine and intensifying pressure on Russia until it demonstrates a genuine readiness for negotiations in good faith.

As long as Moscow rejects peace initiatives, it is imperative to intensify diplomatic, economic, and military pressure on Russia. This includes swift adoption of the European Union’s 19th sanctions package; full disconnection of Russia from international financial systems; sanctions against the so-called “shadow fleet” of oil tankers; the imposition of strong tariffs to undermine Russia’s war economy; and the strengthening of personal sanctions against Russia’s political and military leadership to ensure they cannot evade accountability.

Russia must be deprived of the means to finance its war and its crimes.

Let me reiterate that strengthening our defense capacities will also serve the goal of encouraging Russia to engage more constructively with international peace efforts.

Mr. President,

Ukraine remains ready to give diplomacy a genuine chance, with the goal of achieving a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace. We highly value the diplomatic efforts of President of the United States Donald Trump and the European leaders.

Yet Russia’s ongoing attacks undermine and devalue these efforts by the American leadership supported by many European states and states from other regions of the world.

Let me emphasize: the people of Ukraine still hope that this Council — and its Member States, who have consistently emphasized the need for a cessation of hostilities — will now show the courage to turn words into action by supporting a relevant resolution on the matter.

Restoring respect for international law — above all the UN Charter and its principle of territorial integrity — will send a clear message: aggression must be punished, never rewarded.

I thank you.