On November 20, the Third Committee of the 79th Session of the UN General Assembly approved Ukraine’s proposed annual resolution titled “Situation of Human Rights in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, Including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol.”

This is the only UN resolution in which the General Assembly explicitly refers to the Russian aggression against Ukraine as a war of aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.

The resolution aims to protect and ensure the return of deported children. In particular, the General Assembly calls on the Russian Federation to cease the deportation of Ukrainian children and to provide comprehensive information to relevant UN agencies and international organizations. This includes a list of all deported Ukrainian children, especially those whose status was illegally changed, adopted, or placed under the care of foster families. The resolution also urges the Russian Federation to take all necessary measures to ensure the safe return of these children to their homeland.

This year, for the first time, the resolution includes provisions strongly condemning, by the General Assembly, torture and other forms of cruel treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war, including sexual violence. It calls on the Russian Federation to grant international mandates, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), access to places of detention, ensure adequate medical care, and facilitate a complete exchange of all prisoners of war. The resolution mentioned the names of political prisoners from Crimea: Emir-Usein Kuku, Halyna Dovhopola, Server Mustafaiev, Vladyslav Yesypenko, Asan ta Aziz Akhtemovy, Iryna Danylovych, Bohdan Ziza, Enver Krosh, Vilen Temerianov, Mariano Harsiia Kalataiud. This year, the list was expanded to include the names Seiran Saliiev, Oleh Prykhodko, and Osman Arifmemetov

In mid-December, the resolution will be adopted by the UN General Assembly.

This marks the ninth resolution, and since 2023, it has expanded to cover not only occupied Crimea but all Ukrainian territories occupied by Russia.