Vladimir Putin is waging a "harrowing" and "barbaric" war on women and girls which he must be held to account for, the UK has told the United Nations. Speaking at the UN Security Council meeting on Ukraine on Monday Lord Tariq Ahmad said the Geneva Convention contained numerous provisions giving special protection to women and girls as civilians in conflict zones.
But he told the gathering: "Yet what we see today with our own eyes, and as today’s detailed briefings testify, is harrowing evidence of how women and girls are suffering. Mr Putin’s invading forces are absolutely oblivious to even the most basic tenet of the Geneva Conventions - the distinction, the absolutely essential distinction, between civilians and combatants.
"Today, sadly, we’ve once again heard Russia trying to deflect from the facts, the reality on the ground — muddy the waters — by what can only be described as quite extraordinary statements, and even lies. Yet, what is true, what is fact, is that Russian attacks on civilians and residential areas have been truly barbaric."
