UNITED NATIONS, July 14. /TASS/. Russia’s inquiries to the United Nations concerning accusations against Russian troops committing alleged sexual violence have been ignored, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya said on Friday.
"If there were any doubts in the biasedness of the report, the section on Ukraine dispels them completely. The accusations against Russian servicemen it contains are groundless and absurd. They are nothing but a replication of the fake news cooked up in Kiev," he said.
"We would like to stress once again that we fully reject the report’s insinuations," Nebenzya said. "The actions by Russian servicemen in and away from the field of battle are subject to general command, strict rules and norms. Any illegal actions are investigated immediately and those responsible are brought to justice."
According to the Russian diplomat, before the report was released, Russia had officially asked the UN secretary general and his special rapporteur to provide information so that Russia could conduct a probe. "These requests were ignored," he pointed out.
On Friday, the UN Security Council held a meeting on sexual violence during armed conflict. The UN Secretary General’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten delivered a report which contained accusations against Russian soldiers. Russia has already exposed unverified data provided by Patten and objected to her participation in the meeting.