The Daily Populous Thursday May 21st, 2026 evening edition
Authored by nashaniva.com and submitted by HydrolicKrane

Andriy Melnyk, Ukraine's Permanent Representative to the UN, called on member states of the United Nations to find a political and legal mechanism to strip Russia of its permanent membership status in the Security Council.

Photo: Ulf Mauder / picture alliance via Getty Images

Melnyk stated this during the Security Council's open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflicts, writes the BBC.

According to Melnyk, among all wars and conflicts in the world, Russian aggression against Ukraine "stands out for its cruelty and systematic nature of violence committed against the civilian population."

He noted that, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, from January to April 2026, the number of civilian casualties increased by 21% compared to the same period last year and by 93% compared to 2024.

"The first four months of this year have become the deadliest period for the Ukrainian civilian population ever," stated the Ukrainian diplomat.

Melnyk recalled that in winter, Russia systematically attacked Ukraine's energy infrastructure, trying "to force millions of civilians to submit through cold."

Also, according to him, Russian troops use a "double-tap" tactic, where a second attack follows the first one – "only to kill medical personnel and rescuers."

"All legal obligations to protect civilians will ultimately remain empty words if acts of aggression and related war crimes are not punished," Melnyk emphasized, calling on Security Council members to find a way to strip Russia of its permanent UN Security Council member status.

Loose_Skill6641 on May 21st, 2026 at 05:36 UTC »

it's not even possible

the way the UN is setup makes it easy to add a country to the UN and basically impossible to remove one from the council, you may as well dissolve the UN and create a new organisation from scratch

PhantasosX on May 21st, 2026 at 05:28 UTC »

That wouldn't work. The entire UN Permament Security Council Seat was created in Post-WW2 solely to mantain the sphere of influences of the great winners at that decade, with far more power than the other members of UN.

All will do is for the other seats says 'yes" and Russia says "no" and that be the end of it, because Permament Seats have full veto powers.

RadiumJuly on May 21st, 2026 at 05:21 UTC »

To which a majority of member states vote yes, and then Russia vetos the vote.