Melnik gave a sharp response to Nebenzia at the UN Security Council
Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine’s Permanent Representative to the UN, stated that the recent strike by a Russian drone on the Romanian city of Galați demonstrates the Kremlin’s deliberate expansion of military aggression beyond Ukraine’s borders.
During an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, the diplomat emphasized that this dangerous incident must serve as a turning point in the international community’s and the North Atlantic Alliance’s response to Moscow’s actions.
The emergency meeting of the security body was convened directly at the official request of the Romanian side.
The Ukrainian diplomat expressed full solidarity with Bucharest following the tragic events that took place on May 29.
At that time, a Russian kamikaze drone equipped with explosives openly violated the country’s airspace and struck a residential area in Galați, causing significant destruction and injuries among civilians.
Melnik emphasized that this attack was not a coincidence but part of a broader campaign to intimidate European states, as evidenced by regular threats of strikes on capitals from top Kremlin propagandists and Russian Security Council Deputy Secretary Dmitry Medvedev.
Official Kyiv fully trusts the Romanian authorities’ conclusions regarding the drone’s Russian origin and completely rejects the statements by Russian Permanent Representative Vasily Nebenzya regarding Moscow’s alleged “non-involvement.”
According to a Ukrainian diplomat, the strike on Galați was intended to directly test the Alliance’s resolve and NATO’s reaction to the war’s approach to the allies’ borders.
Furthermore, the attack had ideological undertones, as this city is the burial site of Ukrainian Hetman Ivan Mazepa.
“That is precisely why many Ukrainians cannot help but notice the bitter symbolism of the Russian drone that struck the beautiful city of Galați in Romania, a city so closely linked to the sacred memory of Hetman Mazepa,” Andriy Melnyk stated during his speech.
He added that the Kremlin’s war of aggression is directed not only against Ukrainian territories but also against national identity and shared European history.
The diplomat identified the most effective way to protect the citizens of Romania and other neighboring European states from unpredictable Russian terror as completely preventing enemy missiles and drones from entering the airspace.
“But what Ukraine needs most is a commitment from our European and American partners to actively intercept and destroy Russian missiles and drones over Ukrainian territory,” the Permanent Representative emphasized firmly.
Melnik called for Russia to be stripped of its seat on the UN Security Council
As a reminder, 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 called for 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.
