Russia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Vasily Nebenzya said the situation in the Gaza Strip today is similar to the siege of the Russian city of Leningrad during World War II.
Nebenzya’s statements came after he, along with other foreign diplomats, visited on Tuesday the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, through which humanitarian aid is delivered to the Gaza Strip.
During the trip, the diplomats were able to talk to local authorities and humanitarian workers in Gaza. “This trip allowed us to better understand what is happening in Gaza,” Nebenzya said at the UN General Assembly.
He continued: “There is a terrible humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, and it is getting worse every day, although it is impossible to imagine what could be worse than it is now. From all our interlocutors, we heard only one thing: we need a ceasefire, we need to stop this massacre.”
“I remember the siege of Leningrad by the Nazis during World War II, which lasted nearly 900 days and claimed the lives of more than a million people in Leningrad as a result of bombing and starvation,” he said.
“Is Gaza facing the same fate? It is impossible to imagine how this is happening in this day and age,” Nebenzya added.
On Tuesday, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution submitted by Egypt and Mauritania calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. 153 countries voted in favor of the resolution, whereas 10 states including the US and Israel objected to it with 23 others abstained from voting.
