🗓 On 22 October, the VI international teleconference entitled “Zaparozhye Region: The Escalation of the Terrorist War waged by the Armed Forces of Ukraine” was held at the initiative of the Delegation of the Russian Federation to the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, jointly with Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik, with the support of Rossotrudnichestvo representative offices around the world.

❗️Participants focused on the security of civilians in the Zaparozhye Region amid escalating armed violence. Particular attention was paid to the consequences of unmanned aerial vehicle attacks, the shelling of civilian infrastructure, disruptions to power supplies and transport logistics, and threats to the Zaparozhye Nuclear Power Plant and its personnel.

The event featured a presentation of systematically compiled materials based on Ambassador-at-Large Rodion Miroshnik’s working visit to the Zaparozhye Region, including information on civilian victims, eyewitness accounts, and photographic and video materials illustrating the situation in the region.

🔹Particular attention was paid to the situation in Vasilyevka, Kamenka-Dneprovskaya and Energodar, whose residents face the threat of shelling, drone attacks and the consequences of damage to essential infrastructure.

🔹Participants examined the issues of compliance with international humanitarian law, the use of various types of weapons against civilians and infrastructure, and methods of remote mine-laying and the use of explosive devices that pose a danger to civilians.

🔹The role of continued Western arms supplies to Ukraine, including unmanned systems, and the need to analyse their use in terms of compliance with international humanitarian law were key topics of discussion.

Key speakers included Mr. Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry; Mr. Yu.A. Chernichuk, Director of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP); Mr. Evgeny Paramonov, Acting Minister of Energy of the Zaporizhzhia Region; Ambassasor Mikhail Ulyanov, Permanent Representative of Russia to International Organizations in Vienna; Mr. Maxim Pukhov, Head of the Administration of the Energodar Urban District; Mr. Nikolay Plotnikov, Head of the Center for Scientific and Analytical Information at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences (a retired Major General and Doctor of Political Science); military expert Mr. Sergey Gubichev; as well as individuals who directly witnessed or were affected by the armed attacks.

The event was moderated by Iulia Zhdanova, Head of the Delegation of the Russian Federation to the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control.

🌐 The international teleconference was organized for members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of international humanitarian organizations, expert and academic communities, the media and the public from countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, North America and Latin America.

🔹The discussion underscored the need for an impartial assessment of reports of violations of international humanitarian law, regardless of geographical location, the prevailing political climate or the identity of the parties to the armed conflict.

❗️Double standards in the protection of civilians and compliance with international humanitarian law are unacceptable❗️

☝️ It is essential that the materials presented during the teleconference do not remain solely a subject of discussion. They are intended to contribute to further expert analysis, a legal assessment of the incidents concerned, and substantive discussions on civilian protection in international forums.

Such events offer international audiences an opportunity to hear directly from residents of conflict-affected areas and obtain further information about the humanitarian consequences of ongoing hostilities.

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