Zelensky demands ‘accountability’ for Russia ‘crimes’, urges immediate action

KYIV: Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelensky demanded “accountability” at the UN Security Council on Tuesday for Russian “crimes” carried out during Moscow’s invasion of his country.

People “were killed in their apartments, houses… civilians were crushed by tanks while sitting in their cars in the middle of the road, just for their pleasure,” Zelensky told the Council, including Moscow’s envoy, describing alleged atrocities in Ukraine’s Bucha.

“Accountability must be inevitable.”

Zelensky added that “hundreds of thousands” of Ukrainians had also been deported to Russia.

Urging the United Nations on Tuesday to “act immediately” on President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of his country, he called for Russia to be expelled from the UN security council.

Zelensky called on the 15-member council, which aims to ensure international peace and security, to “remove Russia as an aggressor and a source of war, so it cannot block decisions about its own aggression, its own war.”

“The United Nations can be simply closed. Ladies and gentlemen, are you ready to close the UN? And the time of international law is gone? If your answer is no, then you need to act immediately,” he added in his video address.

He urged the United Nations also to act and reform its system which gives Security Council permanent member Russia a veto, saying everything must be done to ensure the international body works effectively.

In a passionate address to the United Nations Security Council, Zelenskiy described in detail grim scenes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, saying Moscow wanted to turn Ukraine into ‘silent slaves’.