Putin's war under criticism: delegates boycott Lavrov's speech

Created: 03/01/2022Updated: 03/01/2022 15:48

By: Tobias Utz

In protest against Russia's war in Ukraine, numerous people leave the plenary session of the United Nations in Geneva during a speech by Sergey Lavrov.

© Salvatore Di Nolfi/dpa

Russia and Vladimir Putin have been accused of "war crimes" in Ukraine.

Sergey Lavrov is boycotted at the United Nations.

• Russia's* invasion of Ukraine* is met with fierce opposition.

  Western states are reacting with sanctions that hit the Russian economy in particular.

• More and more parts of the Russian upper class, especially oligarchs, face the Ukraine conflict* against President Vladimir Putin*.

• The news situation on reactions to the Ukraine war in a compact overview.

+++ 3.47 p.m .:

Out of solidarity with Ukraine, numerous delegations in Geneva on Tuesday (03/01/2022) boycotted the speeches of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov before UN bodies.

Shortly before the start of the video transmission of the speeches before the UN Human Rights Council and at the UN Disarmament Conference, numerous diplomats demonstratively left the debate room, as an AFP reporter reported.

Update, 12:12 p.m .:

The war with Ukraine triggers criticism of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin worldwide.

Above all, the reports that the Russian army is now using cluster munitions and cluster bombs in the battle for Kyiv and Kharkiv caused horror in places.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of "war crimes".

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov does not see the blame for the escalation in Moscow, but in the West.

According to the Russian news agency TASS, Lavrov said: "The tragedy in Ukraine is the result of the Western handling of the war crimes that occurred after the coup in February 2014." According to Lavrov, the EU member states Germany, Poland and France in particular have agreed guilty.

According to a report by the US news channel CNN, Lavrov spoke in a television speech about "characteristics of a genocide" that would have occurred in Ukraine after 2014 against Russian compatriots.

Ukraine War: Next Oligarch Opposes Vladimir Putin

First report:

Moscow - The sanctions of the West against Russia in the Ukraine conflict are having an effect.

On Monday, the value of the ruble fell to a record low.

The Kremlin is facing the toughest economic sanctions in the country's history.

Not only the domestic trade reacted to this, but also the rich.

Several oligarchs, previously seen as supporters of Vladimir Putin, have publicly called for the war to end.

The banker and three-time dollar billionaire Oleg Tinkov shared a family photo on Instagram that was signed with the following sentence: "We are against this war." His fellow billionaires Oleg Deripaska and Mikhail Friedman had previously publicly spoken out in favor of an end to the bloodshed*.

Now another oligarch has joined in criticizing the invasion.

Media mogul Evgeny Lebedev wrote in an open letter: "President Putin, please end this war."

Lebedev's letter was featured on the front page of Britain's London Evening Standard newspaper on Monday.

Background: the oligarch owns the newspaper.

He also sits in the British House of Lords and holds both Russian and British citizenship.

As a Russian citizen, he is asking Putin to stop the military from "murdering their Ukrainian brothers and sisters," he wrote in the letter.

Europe must be saved from war, said Lebedev.

“As a Russian patriot, I ask you to prevent more young Russian soldiers from dying needlessly.

As a citizen of the world, I ask you to save the world from annihilation.” The continent is “on the brink of world war and the world is on the brink of nuclear catastrophe,” he warned.

Peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, which took place on Monday, are a "sign of hope" but not satisfactory.

(tu)