The World Health Assembly on Thursday voted in favour of a resolution that condemned Russian attacks on the health-care system in Ukraine before rejecting a parallel proposal presented by Moscow that Kyiv’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva had called a “subterfuge” that presented a “twisted alternative reality” of the conflict.
Ukraine’s successful resolution, backed by member states 88-12 with 53 abstentions, raises the possibility that Russia could be suspended from the assembly if attacks on hospitals and clinics continue. The assembly is the decision-making body of the World Health Organization, a United Nations global health agency with a sprawling mandate.
A counterproposal put forward by Russia and Syria, which suggested Kyiv bears the blame for some civilian deaths, was also rejected on Thursday, 15-66, with 70 abstentions.