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Russia has been expelled from the UN Human Rights Council for its invasion of Ukraine and massacre of civilians.

Russia claimed that the brutal scenes that had been revealed were staged, but after confirming the votes of the UN member states, declared its withdrawal.



This is Washington Correspondent Kim Soo-hyung.



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Russia did not give up its existing arguments at the UN Special General Assembly.



The massacre of civilians perpetrated in the Ukrainian bucha is a staged scene.



[Gennady Kuzmin/Deputy Russian Ambassador to the United Nations: We reject false claims to attack Russia based on staged events and widespread manipulation information.]




However, it did not stop the outrage among member states that Russia for its atrocities should be expelled from the UN Human Rights Council.



[Thomas-Greenfield/US Ambassador to the United Nations: We are sending a strong message as a group that the suffering victims and survivors are not being ignored.]



The agenda was approved with 93 votes in favor, 24 against, and 58 abstentions. That's it.



South Korea and Western countries voted in favor, while North Korea, China and Iran voted against.



As soon as Russia confirmed the results, it declared its withdrawal.



[Kisliza/Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Nations: You cannot resign after being fired.

That's exactly what Russia did.]



Russia is the second country to be kicked out of the UN Human Rights Council after Libya, which violently suppressed anti-government protesters in 2011.



The US Senate overwhelmingly voted in favor of a bill that would remove most-favored-nation treatment and impose high tariffs on goods imported from Russia and Belarus.



The European Union has also agreed to ban Russian coal imports and Russian ships from entering ports in the region.



This is the first EU sanctions against Russian energy.



However, it is pointed out that the effect of the sanctions may not be significant as the proportion of coal in the energy resources that the EU imports from Russia is only about 4% and it is applied only to new contracts.



(Video coverage: Park Eun-ha, video editing: Lee Seung-yeol)



▶ Russian journalist criticizing the invasion of Ukraine suffered 'red paint terrorism'