UN Officials Warn Civilian Toll Rising as Security Council Splits Over Ukraine Escalation

BY ATN News Team

UNHQ, New York:  Senior United Nations officials warned Monday that Ukraine civilians face a worsening humanitarian crisis as Russia intensifies its attacks, while Security Council members delivered sharply divided messages on responsibility, diplomacy and the path to peace.

Briefing the Council, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said the new year had brought “no peace or even respite” to Ukraine, citing large-scale aerial assaults causing “horrific” levels of destruction and suffering.

Between January 8 and 9 alone, Russia reportedly launched 242 drones and 36 missiles, she said, killing at least four people and injuring 25 in Kyiv. Areas in Lviv were reportedly targeted with the so-called Oreshnik missile, believed capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

DiCarlo reaffirmed the Secretary-General’s position that any peace must uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders, again calling for an immediate, full and unconditional ceasefire.

The humanitarian picture was equally stark. Ramesh Rajasingham, speaking on behalf of Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher, said the “plight of civilians has grown more desperate,” with the World Health Organization recording 11 attacks on healthcare facilities in Ukraine since the start of the year.

“Each damaged substation, heating pipeline or pumping station triggers cascading failures that put even more lives at risk,” he said, urging governments to use their influence to ensure civilian protection, humanitarian access and adequate funding. “Civilians who are enduring these attacks need more than statements of concern.”

European condemnation sharpens

Several European delegations used blunt language.

Latvia said Russia is deliberately “testing the limits of international resolve” and urged Council members to condemn what it described as systematic brutality against civilians during winter conditions. Lithuania, speaking on behalf of the Baltic states, warned that Moscow’s aggression is financed through “shadow fleet tankers” and illegal oil trade, and supported militarily by Belarus, Iran and North Korea.

Poland said the “systematic nature” of Russian attacks demonstrated a deliberate strategy to inflict suffering on civilians, accusing Moscow of operating behind a “fog of disinformation.” The Russian Federation, Poland said, is not seeking peace but “the destruction of Ukraine and its complete capitulation.”

Denmark condemned recent strikes as “shocking,” recalling that attacks against civilians constitute war crimes and warning that strikes near NATO and EU territory underscore broader risks to European security.

The European Union’s representative, participating as an observer, said Ukraine had agreed to a ceasefire nearly a year ago and argued that the Council must push Moscow into “meaningful negotiations,” while also condemning the military support Russia receives from Iran, Belarus and North Korea.

United States claims momentum but condemns escalation

The United States struck a dual tone.

“Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, we are closer to a deal now than at any point since the war began,” the U.S. representative said. But she condemned Russia’s recent strikes, including use of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile, as “another dangerous and inexplicable escalation,” calling attacks on civilians and energy infrastructure “a mockery of the cause of peace.”

China urges negotiations, rejects sanctions

China’s delegate said “the window for negotiations has opened and the door for peace is in sight,” urging parties to build on recent dialogue efforts. He rejected what he described as attempts to use the crisis to divide the world, impose illegal unilateral sanctions or disrupt global trade.

Appeals to law and principle

Some Council members focused on legal obligations rather than assigning blame.

Pakistan said the international community was “deeply perturbed” by continued hostilities and warned that strict adherence to international humanitarian law is imperative, stressing that protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure must be upheld “fully by all sides.”

Liberia framed the conflict as a test of the UN’s foundational principles, warning that erosion of respect for the UN Charter — through disregard or selective application — has repeatedly made the world more dangerous. “A world committed to multilateralism must reject the notion that force is an effective or legitimate language of security,” its delegate said.

Competing narratives from Kyiv and Moscow

Ukraine’s representative delivered one of the strongest interventions, saying that each time the world believes Russia has reached the limits of “lies and barbarity,” Moscow finds a way to sink lower. He drew historical parallels to past “evil empires” that sought to break civilian resistance through cold, hunger and darkness, recalling that up to 10 million people died on Ukrainian soil during World War II.

He warned that Russia’s use of the Oreshnik missile represents a clear threat to European security and dismissed Russian claims of a fabricated attack on the Russian president’s residence as “just absurd,” comparing them to the 1939 Gleiwitz false-flag incident used to justify Nazi aggression.

Russia’s delegate rejected those accusations, saying some members had come “to accuse Russia of all ills” while ignoring what he called the deeper causes of Europe’s security crisis. He insisted

Russian forces do not target civilians and said strikes focused on infrastructure supporting Ukraine’s military-industrial complex. Civilian casualty reports, he argued, are part of a politically motivated narrative.

A divided Council, a deteriorating reality

The meeting laid bare a familiar but deepening divide: Western and European members demanding stronger condemnation and pressure on Moscow; China cautioning against sanctions and urging dialogue; and Russia denying wrongdoing while justifying its military campaign.

What cut across the debate, however, was the bleak assessment from UN officials: worsening humanitarian conditions, mounting civilian suffering and infrastructure damage that compounds with every new wave of attacks.

As one senior UN voice warned in the chamber, the question confronting member states is no longer about competing narratives — but whether their influence will translate into real protection for civilians, or remain confined to words.