Australia thanks the Commission for its update on the situation in Ukraine.

Australia condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its violations of international law. We call upon Russia to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukrainian territory.

Due to Russia’s illegal invasion, nearly 18 million people need humanitarian assistance, including more than 6.6 million Ukrainians who are internally displaced. With winter fast approaching, we are concerned that civilians will face the harsh cold without adequate accommodation, food and heating, and continue to face sexual violence.

Australia condemns Russia’s filtration operations within, and forced deportations from, Ukraine. The unlawful transfer and deportation of protected persons is a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians and constitutes a war crime.

We call on Russia to immediately halt these activities and to provide outside independent observers to identified facilities and forced deportation relocation areas within Russia.

We ask the Commission what more can be done to monitor filtration and deportation operations within Ukraine and to hold those responsible to account?