For the first time, the UN referred to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an act of aggressive war.

The UN General Assembly voted in favor of the updated resolution “The Situation of Human Rights in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol,” which for the first time used the phrase “aggressive war” to describe Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

This was reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The document received support from 81 votes, with 14 against and 80 abstentions.

Ukraine welcomed this step, which “once again confirmed Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders and rejected any changes to the status of Ukrainian territories.” The UN traditionally urged Russia to cease aggression and withdraw all its armed forces from Ukrainian territories.

Another update in the document included a provision condemning torture and other forms of cruel treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war, including sexual violence. Russia is demanded to provide access to detention sites for international organizations, begin treating the captives, and conduct a full exchange of all detained individuals.

Furthermore, Russia is called upon to stop the deportation of Ukrainian children and provide relevant UN agencies and international organizations with a list of all deported individuals. This list should also include those children whose status was altered by Russian authorities, such as placing the child in a Russian family.

The resolution also recalled the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station by Russians, attacks on Ukrainian port infrastructure, the blockade of ports, and threats to civilian and commercial vessels.

Ukraine urged all UN member states to continue applying pressure on Russia.

It is worth noting that recently, human rights defenders called on the International Criminal Court to investigate the murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war in Olenivka.