Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia. Nov. 8, 2023. | Photo: X/@ESSA_A1I

Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia said on Wednesday that the recent Ukrainian attacks on Donetsk, in which civilians were killed, are a violation of international law.

Addressing the organization's Security Council, Nebenzia said that with November 7 attacks on densely populated areas of Donetsk, Ukraine shows once again "new evidence of deliberate actions of the Kiev regime to destroy the civilian population of Donbass."

The Russian president noted that Ukraine targeted civilian objects in the city center three times during the day, firing rockets of the HIMARS and Uragan systems. In this regard, he said that "the terrorist practice of repeatedly attacking the same place is firmly rooted in the arsenal of the Ukrainian Armed Forces."

"Knowing full well that the operational services (rescuers, doctors, Police) and journalists will not take long to reach the shelling sites, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launch repeated attacks while working, preventing the evacuation of the wounded and dead and also preventing the Emergencies Ministry staff from fully engaging in eliminating the consequences of the shelling," Nebenzia denounced.

The tweet reads, "Ukrainian attacks on Donetsk violate international law. The recent Ukrainian attacks on Donetsk are a violation of international law, Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzia stated on Tuesday."

The November 7 attacks left six civilians dead and 55 others injured, including three children and 23 first responders from the Ministry of Emergencies. A doctor and an ambulance officer who attended the scene were killed, as well as a traffic police officer.

The command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces knew exactly where the attacks were being carried out and that the targets of the attacks were not military, but civilian objects and people, Nebenzia said, noting that the attacks were carried out with Western long-range, high-precision weapons. 

"These are deliberate and cynical crimes for which there is no statute of limitations," denounced the Russian diplomat, who pointed to U.S. cynicism in calling these crimes "collateral damage." Washington is accustomed to covering up its own crimes and those of its allies in Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and the Middle East with this term, Nebenzia said.  

"The Ukrainian Armed Forces are applied pupils of their masters," he said. 

DPR has been shelled by Ukrainian forces more than 25,000 times since February 2022 and 145,000 shells have fallen on its territory, according to Nebenzia.

For its part, China expressed its rejection of the massive Ukrainian attack on civilian facilities in Donetsk. "China is deeply concerned about this event. The defense of civilians constitutes a red line of international humanitarian law. Civilian facilities cannot be targeted," said Zhang Jun, China's permanent representative to the UN.