Russian Envoy Defends Invasion, Then Beats A Hasty Retreat At UN General Assembly

A day after Ukraine’s president laid out a forceful case against Russia's invasion at the United Nations, the US made its own assertions in front of the UN Security Council on Thursday about why Russia should face further censure and isolation.

Photo Insert: Lavrov left after his UN speech, prompting Ukrainians to say Lavrov was like any Russian soldier who always beats a hasty retreat.

Minutes later, Russia came right back, calling the claims unfair and saying Ukraine is to blame for the invasion, Pia Sarkar and Jennifer Peltz reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Antony Blinken, the top US top diplomat, spoke to Security Council members on Thursday, detailing allegations of what he called war crimes and other atrocities committed by Russia and urging them to “send a clear message” to the country to stop its nuclear threats.

Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, addressed the Security Council shortly afterward, repeating his country’s frequent claims that Kyiv has long oppressed Russian speakers in Ukraine’s east — one of the explanations Moscow has offered for the invasion.

Ukrainians laughed off the claim, saying it is Russia that has been oppressing Ukrainians and conducting massacres of Russian-speaking Ukrainians who do not support the bloody Feb. 24, 2022 invasion. Lavrov left after his speech, prompting Ukrainians to say Lavrov was like any Russian soldier who always beats a hasty retreat.

Ukraine’s Western allies “have been covering up the crimes of the Kyiv regime,” said Lavrov, who was not in the room when Blinken and some other US allies spoke. He appeared just before his own speech and departed immediately afterward, earning guffaws from the participants.

The almost-exchange between the two top diplomats came on the heels of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's demands for world leaders to punish Russia in a video speech delivered Wednesday, just hours after Moscow made an extraordinary announcement that it would mobilize up to one million reservists to shore up the losing war effort.

As a result, protests were launched and 1,300 were arrested, army recruitment centers were burned and scores of thousands of Russians fled by cars, trains, boats and planes. Buoyed by a counteroffensive that has retaken swaths of territory that the Russians seized, Zelenskyy vowed that his forces would not stop until they had reclaimed all of Ukraine.

“We can return the Ukrainian flag to our entire territory. We can do it with the force of arms,” the president said in a speech delivered in English.

“But we need time.” Video speeches by Zelenskyy in an olive green T-shirt have become almost commonplace. But this speech was one of the most keenly anticipated at the UN General Assembly, where the war has dominated over conflicts in other regions.

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