'This madness can stop today': Ireland to demand accountability for Russian war crimes

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney in Bucha, Ukraine. During his visit, Mr Coveney 'gave Ireland’s commitment to continue to use our voice at the highest level in the EU and at the UN Security Council to call for an immediate halt to Russian aggression in Ukraine'.

Ireland's voice will be used to demand "accountability" for Russian war crimes in Ukraine, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has pledged.

Mr Coveney will on Tuesday address the UN Security Council, of which Ireland is a member, on the Russian invasion of its neighbour, saying he will push for Russia to answer for atrocities carried out in the war since February 24.

He said he will use his speech to demand Russia be held responsible for atrocities in Ukraine.

“The Ukrainian people need and deserve full accountability for the atrocities that continue to be uncovered daily," he said. "I will be using Ireland’s voice at the Security Council to emphasise this. I will also be raising our grave concerns that we are facing into renewed Russian attacks in the east of Ukraine, with hundreds of thousands of lives at stake.

The humanitarian toll on civilians of this war is unconscionable. Two-thirds of Ukraine’s children are now displaced from their homes.

"This madness can stop today if Russia agrees to an immediate ceasefire, a withdrawal to pre-24th February positions, and a commitment to a dialogue. I commend Turkey’s efforts in hosting talks between the parties in Istanbul and urge all UN member states to support diplomatic efforts."

Last Thursday, Mr Coveney became the first foreign minister from a state on the Security Council to visit Kyiv since the start of the war. He is also the first foreign minister to visit the besieged suburb of Bucha and to observe first-hand the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the mass graves that have been uncovered.

Speaking ahead of his address, Mr Coveney said: “In my meetings with Minister Kuleba and Minister Reznikov in Kyiv, I gave Ireland’s commitment to continue to use our voice at the highest level in the EU and at the UN Security Council to call for an immediate halt to Russian aggression in Ukraine, and for a genuine commitment to a negotiated solution. I am using the earliest opportunity at the Security Council to do this."

'Fight to the end'

Meanwhile, Ukrainian leaders have pledged to “fight absolutely to the end” in Mariupol where the port’s last-known pocket of resistance is holed up in a sprawling steel plant laced with tunnels.

Prime minister Denys Shmyhal said Ukrainians would keep fighting in the ruined city, as Russian missiles and rockets also battered other parts of the country.

Monday also saw at least six people killed in multiple explosions apparently caused by missiles which struck the western Ukrainian city of Lviv.