Zelenskiy Accuses Russia Of 'Weaponizing' Food, Children Against Ukraine
According to RFE/RL, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy accused Russia of “weaponizing” everything from food and energy to abducted children in its war against Ukraine in an address to world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on September 19.
Zelenskiy said while there are various agreements that restrict arms themselves, “There are no real restrictions on weaponization.”
"It's clear: Russia's attempt to weaponize the food shortage on the global market in exchange for recognition for some, if not all, of the captured territories," Zelenskiy said. "Russia is launching the food prices as weapons. Their impact spans from the Atlantic coast of Africa to the southeast Asia. And this is a threat scale."
Zelenskiy was making his first in-person appearance at the annual UNGA since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022. His trip to UN headquarters in New York comes three months into Ukrainian counteroffensive that has not advanced as fast or as well as hoped for at first.
In his speech, Zelenskiy also accused Russia of exploiting European countries that were dependent on its oil and gas.
The "Kremlin weaponized oil and gas to weaken the leaders of other countries," he said, adding that "now, this threat is even greater."
"It is also turning other country's power plants into real dirty bombs. Look, please, what Russia did to our Zaporizhzhya [nuclear] power plant -- shelled it, occupied it and then blackmails others with radiation leaks," Zelenskiy added, referring to the Ukrainian power station that Russian invading forces took control of in March 2022.
Zelenskiy also noted that Ukraine was not the only victim of Russian aggression.
When hatred is weaponized against one nation, it never stops there. Each decade Russia starts a new war. Parts of Moldova and Georgia remain occupied. Russia turned Syria into ruins," he said. "Russia has almost swallowed Belarus. It's obviously threatening Kazakhstan and Baltic states."
Zelenskiy condemned Russia's wartime practice of forcibly taking Ukrainian children to Russia, calling it "genocide.”
"We know the names of tens of thousands of children, and have evidence on hundreds of thousands of others kidnapped by Russia in the occupied territories of Ukraine and later deported," the Ukrainian president said.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in March for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian official Maria Lvova-Belova, accusing them of being responsible for the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine, which constitutes a war crime.
In his address, Zelenskiy also said Kyiv was working on preparing a global peace summit.
"Ukraine is doing everything to ensure that after the Russian aggression, no one in the world would dare to attack any nation," Zelenskiy said. "The occupier must return to his own land."
