COPENHAGEN, 4 March 2022 – Following the UN General Assembly vote on Wednesday overwhelmingly condemning the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine and in light of growing numbers of casualties, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden), together with the Bureau of the Assembly and Secretary General Roberto Montella, issued a rebuke of the ongoing armed aggression and reminded Moscow of its obligations under international humanitarian law.

In a joint statement today, President Cederfelt and other OSCE PA leaders said the following:

“For more than a week, we have watched in horror as the Russian armed forces have carried out indiscriminate violence against the people of Ukraine, destroying infrastructure, shelling residential buildings, and killing some 2,000 civilians. With more than one million people having already crossed borders since Russia’s invasion began, the UN refugee agency is now warning that up to four million people could flee the country in the coming weeks and months.

Needless to say, this is utterly unacceptable. As the UN General Assembly declared Wednesday by a vote of 141-5, the Russian government must immediately cease its use of force against Ukraine and withdraw all of its military forces. The belligerents must fully comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law to spare the civilian population and civilian infrastructure.

We welcome the agreement that Russia and Ukraine reached on Thursday to set up humanitarian corridors and urge a ceasefire for Ukrainian civilians fleeing the war. Every effort must be made to ensure the delivery of food, medical supplies and the basic necessities to the civilian population.”

The OSCE PA leaders expressed condolences to the family and friends of Maryna Fenina, a national member of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, who died in shelling in Kharkiv Wednesday, as well as to the families of other victims of the war. They also reiterated the statement of the OSCE PA’s Special Representative, Ambassador Miodrag Pančeski, who told the OSCE’s Permanent Council on Thursday that the PA fully supports the efforts of humanitarian agencies, including the International Committee of the Red Cross, to urgently develop and implement plans to assist the civilian population in Ukraine.

The PA leadership expressed particular gratitude to Ukraine’s neighbors that have welcomed refugees and called on all 57 OSCE participating States to respond with solidarity to the inflow of refugees.