By Lucy Adautin
Ukraine’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Ivan Kholostenko, has charged Russia with intentionally undermining global food security by pulling out of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and attacking Ukraine’s grain exports.
Kholostenko’s comments were in response to allegations from Russia and other nations, which accused Ukraine of being involved in sponsoring protests in Nigeria.
Heritage Times HT reports that the Russian Government alleged that the US, the UK, and Ukraine were associating it with funding protests in Nigeria, aiming to damage the friendly ties between the nations.
In a statement, Yury Paramonov, the official Press Secretary of the Russian embassy in Nigeria, accused Ukraine of trying to interfere in Nigeria’s internal affairs and deflect blame onto Russia.
In response, Ukraine’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Ivan Kholostenko, issued a statement condemning the Russian regime and its global actions.
Kholostenko further described Russia’s February 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine as an “unprovoked and unjustified aggressive war” with the goal of fully occupying Ukraine and erasing its national identity.
He said: “Ukraine knows perfectly well what the Russian regime is. And we would like to refer to the truthful facts.
“The truth is that the Russian army commits awful and numerous war crimes and atrocities in the territory of Ukraine every day. Russians kill, rape and torture civilians, including women and children.”
He further cited the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin, for the “unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children from occupied territories”, as evidence of Russia’s disregard for international law.
“All these atrocities and war crimes have been and still are being committed under Russian flags,” Kholostenko said.
He pledged that Russia would face rightful punishment under international law for its actions.
