Melnik called for restrictions on Russia's participation in UN missions
Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, addressed the Security Council with a series of strong statements regarding Russia’s role in international organizations. He called for a ban on Russian military personnel participating in UN peacekeeping missions, raised questions about the appropriateness of Russia’s continued membership in the organization, and described the strike on a nuclear storage facility in the Chernobyl zone as deliberate.
The first statement was prompted by the UN Secretary-General’s report on conflict-related sexual violence. Melnik criticized the position of Russia’s Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzya, who rejected the findings of independent international mechanisms despite documented cases of sexual violence committed by Russian military personnel. The diplomat noted that Russian armed forces have been included in the UN’s annual report on children and armed conflict for the third consecutive year and, for the first time, on the “list of shame” for sexual violence during the war.
“The military forces that the Secretary-General has once again included on the list for sexual violence cannot and must not participate in any operations under the UN flag. Russian personnel must be barred from participating in peacekeeping and police missions,” Melnik stated.
If Moscow continues to reject the General Assembly’s decisions and the organization’s findings, it should withdraw from the UN—that is Melnik’s view.
“Perhaps it is time to say goodbye and leave the UN,” he said.
Putin rejected Zelenskyy’s
proposal Melnik also addressed Putin’s refusal to engage in direct talks. He recalled that on June 4, Zelenskyy sent an open letter to Putin proposing a meeting on neutral territory.
“Ukraine proposed a concrete way forward—a meeting between the two leaders on neutral territory. In response, we heard from Mr. Putin: ‘No, again and again, no,’” Melnik said.
Instead of showing a willingness to negotiate, Putin spoke at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, touting the allegedly successful state of the Russian economy—and it was precisely then that Ukrainian forces struck military targets near St. Petersburg. “It was hard not to notice the symbolism,” the diplomat added.
On the night of June 6, a Russian drone struck a centralized spent nuclear fuel storage facility in the Chernobyl zone, causing a fire that was extinguished by emergency services. No nuclear fuel was stored directly in the affected building, and radiation levels remained normal.
“This was an attack on critically important nuclear infrastructure. Let’s be frank—this was no accident. It was a deliberate and extremely dangerous act,” Melnik emphasized.
This is not Russia’s first attack on facilities in the Chernobyl zone. In February 2025, a drone struck the protective arch of the Chernobyl NPP’s fourth power unit. In May 2026, the building of the National Museum “Chernobyl” in Kyiv was destroyed, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
Earlier, Melnik called for Russia to be stripped of its seat on the UN Security Council
Recall that the UN Security Council convened an emergency meeting at Russia’s request following a strike by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on a Russian military facility in the temporarily occupied city of Starobilsk in Luhansk Oblast.
However, no one convened a meeting after the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) lost a shipment of humanitarian aid worth over $1 million when a Russian missile struck a logistics facility in Dnipro.
