Moscow to shun UN Human Rights Council meeting on Ukraine
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Russia will not participate in Thursday's special session of the UN Human Rights Council on Ukraine, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
The Council announced on Monday that it would hold a special session at Kyiv's request to examine "the deteriorating human rights situation in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression".
But Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday that "the Russian delegation will not legitimise with its presence this new political show organised under the guise of an extraordinary session".
"Unfortunately, our arguments and explanations on the true objectives of this special military operation and the real situation on the ground have been completely ignored," she said in a statement.
"It is evident that they will not be heard this time either" during the West's "new anti-Russian measure".
Russia was a member of the Human Rights Council until the UN General Assembly in New York voted on April 7 to suspend it from the body and from sitting in judgement on other nations' human rights records.
Russia then immediately withdrew from the council.
During an urgent debate on Ukraine, the body voted on March 4 to trigger a commission of inquiry -- the highest-possible level of investigation -- into alleged Russian violations during what it calls its "special military operation" launched in neighbouring Ukraine on February 24.