Russia's isolation deepens as UN suspension vote looms

Russia-hosted talks on unsubstantiated claims of US bioweapons labs in Ukraine struggled to attract attendees

Nato foreign ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the latest in the continuing Russia-Ukraine war. AFP

People take part in a protest against the transport of cargo to Russia and Belarus near the Polish-Belarusian border crossing in Koroszczyn, eastern Poland. EPA

A Ukrainian naval vessel, thought to be the ‘Donbas’ and a nearby building burn in the besieged city of Mariupol. AP

Bucha resident Tetiana Ustymenko weeps over the grave of her son, buried in the garden of her house, in Bucha, north-west of Kyiv. AFP

People charge their mobile phones in a public building in Bucha. AFP

People from Mariupol leave a train to be taken to temporary residences in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. AP

Vladyslava Liubarets, a Bucha resident, cries as she hugs her sister whom she had not seen since the beginning of the Russian invasion, in Bucha, the town which was retaken by the Ukrainian army. EPA

Local citizen Oleksandr, 55, looks at the grave of his neighbour in the backyard of his private house in Hostomel in Kyiv. EPA

Debris of a rocket missile on the field near Kyiv. EPA

The mother of Ukrainian soldier Lubomyr Hudzeliak, who was killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, mourns during his funeral in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. AFP

A woman takes care of a baby at a shelter in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk in Donbas region. AFP

Residents gather outside a shelter in the city of Severodonetsk. AFP

Residents in eastern Ukraine, including the city of Severodonetsk in Donbas region, have been asked by their government to leave 'now' or 'risk death'. AFP

A young girl with her dog arrives at a centre for the displaced in Zaporizhzhia, north-west of Mariupol. AFP

A damaged ambulance in Hostomel, on the outskirts of Kyiv. Reuters

A bomb crater left behind by Russia's attack on the Ukrainian village of Demydiv, on the outskirts of Kyiv. Reuters

Russian attacks have reduced Hotel Ukraine in Chernihiv to debris. Reuters

Oleksii Shcherbo, 98, near his burnt house in the village of Sloboda, on the outskirts of Chernihiv. Reuters

Residents walk past destroyed Russian military machinery on the street, in Bucha, the town which was retaken by the Ukrainian army, north-west of Kyiv. EPA

Damaged National flags flutter in the wind on a cemetry of Chernihiv city which was blocked by Russian troops for a long time. EPA

Demonstrators lie down on the ground in tribute to the people killed in Russia's war against Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany. AP

A Ukrainian firefighter works at the site of a burning fuel storage facility ignited by an air strike, in Dnipropetrovsk. Reuters

A woman before and after she was removed by rescuers from debris after a military strike on the town of Rubizhne, Luhansk. Reuters

People wait for help to evacuate Derhachi. Reuters

Pope Francis, in Vatican, holds a Ukrainian flag given to him by a delegation from the town of Bucha, where dozens of bodies had been found. EPA

State emergency servicemen clear shells near Chernigiv, northern Ukraine. AFP

US war veteran Steven Straub shows his tattoo of the Ukrainian flag while on patrol near Buda-Babynetska, north of Kyiv, days after Russian forces retreated from the area. AFP

Candles are arranged in the shape of Ukraine by the monument to the poet Taras Shevchenko in the western city Lviv. AFP

A teddy bear hangs from a tree branch outside an apartment building in Borodyanka, Kyiv oblast. AP

A woman carries her cat as she walks past buildings that were destroyed by Russian shelling, in Borodyanka. Reuters

Dmitriy Evtushkov, 25, points to his picture in a primary school album retrieved from the rubble of a block of flats. AP

Technicians try to fix the internet in Bucha. AP

A smashed mobile phone lies next to a Russian army ration book in Bucha. AP

A woman and children after their arrival at a centre for displaced persons in Zaporizhzhia, about 200 kilometres north-west of Mariupol. AFP

A man leaves a damaged pharmacy after a bombing that killed several civilians, in Mykolaiv. AP

Ukrainian soldiers sing a patriotic song with buildings in the background that were destroyed during fighting in Borodyanka. AP

Borodyanka residents carry humanitarian aid packages. Reuters

Elderly Ukrainians shelter in a basement in Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine. EPA

Destroyed apartment buildings in Borodyanka. Reuters

Relatives and friends are overwhelmed with emotions as they stand next to the coffin of Anatoly German during his funeral. AP

Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine

Russia was increasingly isolated at the UN on Wednesday over claims that its forces committed war crimes in Ukraine, facing a vote over its removal from the world body’s human rights chamber.

The UN General Assembly is scheduled to vote on Thursday on suspending Moscow from the UN’s Geneva-based Human Rights Council, amid mounting evidence that Russian troops deliberately murdered civilians in northern Ukraine.

The impending vote was confirmed as Russian diplomats on Wednesday hosted poorly attended UN talks focussed on unsubstantiated claims about US-funded bioweapons laboratories in Ukraine.

The vote comes amid global outrage over shocking scenes of civilian killings in areas of Ukraine recently recaptured from Russian forces, like Bucha, outside the capital Kyiv, including people apparently executed with their hands zip-tied behind their backs.

Washington’s UN ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said Russia’s presence on the rights council “undermines the entire UN” and “is just plain wrong” and that governments should “come together to do what is right”, she added.

A suspension from the rights council requires support from two-thirds of voting countries in the 193-nation General Assembly. That body has twice voted to censure Russian aggression since it sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.

The roughly 140 votes against Russia in those two polls exceeded the two-thirds threshold required for a suspension, but it remains unclear whether UN members would back the more drastic step of ejecting Moscow from the rights council.

Moscow has denied attacking civilians in an offensive that it said is necessary to prevent the eastward expansion of the Nato military alliance. Evidence from Bucha is a “horrific provocation”, staged by Ukrainian forces, said Russia’s UN ambassador Vasily Nebenzya.

Making their case

Moscow on Wednesday hosted informal UN Security Council talks where Russian officials shared unsubstantiated claims about discoveries of US-funded biological weapon testing laboratories in Ukraine.

British officials “listened carefully to Russia’s allegations about biological weapons” at two previous UN meetings and deemed them unreliable, a spokesman for the UK mission to the UN told The National.

“We assessed them to have no credible basis, as did the UN,” said the spokesman.

“So we did not think we would learn anything credible whatsoever from Russia’s proposed briefers today.”