UNDER-SECRETARY-GENERAL ROSEMARY A. DICARLO’S
REMARKS TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL ON
UKRAINE
New York, 29 MAY 2025
Mr. President,
When I last briefed this Council on developments in Ukraine exactly one month ago, there was cautious hope of progress on the diplomatic front to stop the fighting.
Regrettably, instead of steps towards peace, we witnessed a brutal surge in large-scale Russian attacks across the country.
This escalation comes after a relative reduction in the intensity of attacks, including the unilateral 72-hour truce declared by the Russian Federation from 8 to 11 May.
For three consecutive nights last weekend, Russian armed forces attacked Ukrainian cities and towns with record numbers of long-range missiles and drones, killing and injuring dozens of civilians.
Most of the casualties were recorded in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Mykolaiv, as well as in other densely populated areas.
On Monday, 26 May, at least six people were reportedly killed and 24 injured across the country, including in the Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa and Mykolaiv regions.
According to Ukrainian officials, with 355 drones, Monday’s attack was the largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
This topped the previous record from the night before.
On Sunday, 25 May, 12 people, including three children, were reportedly killed and more than 60 others were injured when missiles and drones hit Kyiv and other locations in the Kyiv, Zhytomyr, Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, Sumy, and Poltava regions.
More than 80 residential buildings were reportedly damaged.
On Saturday, 24 May, at least 15 people, including two minors, were reportedly injured in a Russian strike on Kyiv. Elsewhere, at least 13 people were reportedly killed – four people in the Donetsk region, five in the Kherson and Odesa regions, and four in the Kharkiv region. The Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions were also hit.
In addition, Sumy region in the northeast of Ukraine has been hit particularly hard by continuous cross-border heavy shelling.
On 17 May – only hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegations met in Istanbul – a Russian drone strike on a civilian bus in Bilopillia in Sumy region reportedly killed nine people and injured seven others. Among those killed were three members of the same family – a mother, a father and their daughter.
In total, since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, at least 13,279 civilians, including 707 children, have been killed. The confirmed number of civilians injured stands at 32,449, including 2,068 children.
The overall security situation so far in 2025 is significantly worse than in the same period last year. Civilian deaths in the first quarter of this year are 59 percent higher than in the same period of 2024.
Mr. President,
Since my last briefing, Russian regions bordering Ukraine also reported civilian casualties.
According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, nine civilians were killed, and 117 were injured because of Ukrainian strikes from 19 to 25 May.
The Ministry also reported that from 12 to 18 May, 17 Russian civilians were killed, and more than 100 others were injured, following Ukrainian attacks on Russian border regions, bringing the total for the month of May to 59 killed, including five children, and more than 400 others injured, including 21 children.
The United Nations is not able to verify these reports.
However, if confirmed, these figures serve as a vivid reminder of the rising civilian toll of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, most egregiously in Ukraine, but also increasingly in the Russian Federation itself.
Let me reiterate clearly: attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law.
They are unacceptable and indefensible – wherever they occur – and must stop immediately.
My colleague, Lisa Doughton, of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs will provide updates about the impacts of the renewed attacks on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine and our response to deliver life-saving aid to all those in need.
Mr. President,
The latest dangerous escalation follows some significant diplomatic developments.
On 16 May, Ukrainian and Russian delegations met in Istanbul for the first direct negotiations in three years.
We welcome these talks and commend the important role of Türkiye and the United States in facilitating these discussions.
While the talks did not result in the much-needed, complete, immediate and unconditional ceasefire that the Secretary-General has called for, it is encouraging that the sides have reportedly agreed to continue the process.
We also welcome an important result of these talks – the recently completed phased exchange of 1,000 prisoners of war on each side.
We hope that all remaining prisoners of war and civilian detainees will soon return home.
Mr. President,
Throughout the war, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has reported on the human rights violations in the territories of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation.
The Independent Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine, meanwhile, continues to investigate alleged violations and abuses of human rights and international humanitarian law in Ukraine.
Just yesterday the Commission reported on allegations of systematic drone attacks by Russian forces targeting civilians in Kherson.
The impact of the war on children is particularly heartbreaking: More than 5.1 million children have been displaced from their homes.
One in five children has lost a relative or friend since 2022. And the fate of Ukrainian children reportedly deported to the Russian Federation remains a question of deep concern.
Mr. President,
The massive wave of attacks over the weekend is a stark warning of how quickly this war can reach new destructive levels.
Further escalation would not only aggravate the devastating toll on civilians but also endanger the already challenging peace efforts.
The longer the war continues, the longer its regional and global impacts will be felt, and the more difficult it will be to find a peaceful resolution.
The United Nations position has been and remains principled in support of Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, within its internationally recognized borders.
We continue to call for peace in line with the UN Charter, international law and relevant UN resolutions.
In February, the Security Council adopted resolution 2774 (2025) – the first since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – imploring a swift end to the conflict and urging a lasting peace.
And soon after passage of the resolution, after more than three years of brutal, illegal war, the global community was heartened by what appeared to be the first sprouts of a potential peace process.
However, anticipation and excitement quickly gave way to frustration around the world and more suffering in Ukraine following the recent and massive Russian attacks.
The hope that the parties will be able to sit down and negotiate is still alive, but just barely.
Serious, demonstrable and good faith efforts are needed – now – to get back on the road that could lead to a just peace. A full, immediate and unconditional ceasefire is such an effort, if only an initial one.
A peace process will not be easy, and it will take time. But it must not wait. The people of Ukraine, especially, cannot wait.
Thank you.