Russian tank T36 / Ruský tank T36 / Martin Hefner / Flickr / April 10, 2011 / CC BY 2.0
The war in Ukraine has continued for two months and a lot has happened. We’ve seen people losing their lives, fleeing from their homes, and feeling inflation.
This April, the United Nations voted to kick Russia off the UN Human Rights Council because of their actions.
Russia Suspended from the UN Human Rights Council
These votes are designed to pressure Russian President Vladimir Putin… since he didn’t show any signs of backing down.
The voting results are as follows:
- In Favor – 93
- Against – 24
- Abstention – 58
European Union Representative to the UN, Olof Skoog, officially announced the results. He said, “This assembly has decided that for now the Russian Federation is suspended from the Human Rights Council. Membership in that council is and shall remain open to all member states of the United Nations. But those members commit to upholding the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights. Russia has violated those criteria through its activities in Ukraine essentially.”
This is humiliating for Russia. We have seen that global powers are condemning the country in a very open way by deciding to suspend it from the UN Human Rights body.
Before the vote, member states – including Russia – voiced their views on the resolution…
Russian Deputy Representative to the UN Gennady Kuzmin shared his insights. He said, “Today is not the time for these kinds of extremely theatrical performances… like the one presented by Ukraine. The draft resolution we’re considering today has no relationship to the actual human rights situation on the ground.“
Russia has been quite clear as to what it thinks of this resolution. They believe that it is politicized. The country argues that it has not committed atrocities in Ukraine.
Russia Launched Full-Scale Ground Offensive in Eastern Ukraine
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is preparing for what could be a long war… since Russia shifts its focus to the eastern part of the country. The Pentagon also believes that this war could continue.
Unfortunately, they were right about it. The Russian forces started attacking Eastern Ukraine last April 19th.
The battle for the Donbas has begun. Ukraine’s defense ministry says Russia has started “a large scale offensive” in the East with three main goals:
- Establishing a corridor to Crimea
- Capturing all of the Donbas regions
- Destroying the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Ukrainian troops on the frontline say they’re ready for anything. The Russians have reportedly deployed 60,000 – 75,000 troops along a 300-mile front.
The Pentagon says a significant part of the Russian army is now concentrated in this relatively small area… and they still have the vast majority of their combat power available.
Former Assistant Secretary of State Robert Charles believes that there will be more casualties in this attack. He said, “It’s a flat open area. The Russian tanks will have their advantage. But tank battles are always very [uncertain]. If heavy artillery gets in there, it could be very messy.”
If the city falls, around 12,000 Russian troops will be freed up to join the offensive. It would also create a land bridge between Russia and the Crimean peninsula.
Ukraine says it has had to pull back some of its troops in some areas but its defensive line has not been broken.
