U.N. General Assembly calls for Russia to make reparations in Ukraine

 

The United Nations General Assembly on Monday November 14, called for Russia to be held accountable for its conduct in Ukraine, voting to approve a resolution recognizing that Russia must be responsible for making reparations to the country.

The resolution, supported by 94 of the assembly's 193 members, said Russia, which invaded its neighbor in February, "must bear the legal consequences of all of its internationally wrongful acts, including making reparation for the injury, including any damage, caused by such acts."

The resolution recommends that member states, in cooperation with Ukraine, create an international register to record evidence and claims against Russia.

General Assembly resolutions are nonbinding even though they carry political weight.

 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the resolution an "important" one.

"The reparations that Russia will have to pay for what it has done are now part of the international legal reality," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address.

 Kyiv's Ambassador to the U.N. Sergiy Kyslytsya told the General Assembly before the vote that Russia has targeted everything from factories to residential buildings and hospitals.

"Ukraine will have the daunting task of rebuilding the country and recovering from this war, but that recovery will never be complete without a sense of justice for the victims of the Russian war. It is time to hold Russia accountable," Kyslytsya said.