News

On 15 June, the President of Ukraine announced a day of mourning for Ukrainian soldiers and border guards. We mourn together with the Ukrainian people and offer our deepest condolences to the families and relatives of those who lost their lives.

We strongly condemn the terrorist attack against the Ukrainian plane in Luhansk that killed 49 people. The fact that segments of the state border between Russia and Ukraine are controlled by armed terrorist groups who can cross the border, unimpededly smuggling also Russian-made weaponry and even tanks, is unjustifiable and inconsistent with the promised de-escalation policy. Having crossed the uncontrolled state border into Ukraine’s territory, the terrorist groups armed with anti-aircraft and anti-tank weaponry are using violence unrestrictedly, attacking the Ukrainian military forces and civilians, often using the human shield – shooting from residential areas, apartment buildings and children’s playgrounds.

We regret that such terrorist acts cause not only legitimate indignation of the Ukrainian people, but also unacceptable protest forms, such as an attack on the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Kyiv. We condemn these illegal actions directed against the immunity of the diplomatic mission and urge the Government of Ukraine to take all measures to ensure security of diplomatic representations.

We call on Russia to ensure proper control of the Ukrainian state border to prevent the Russian-made weaponry and armed Russian citizens from entering the territory of eastern Ukraine, thus helping to stop the ongoing terrorist attacks in this part of the territory of Ukraine.

We urge the Government of Russia to condemn the continued human rights violations and terrorist actions in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, and to immediately start to implement international agreements, as well as the proposals prepared by the Contact Group that includes representatives of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the OSCE in order to bring about peace in the region and to ensure the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.