India Abstains From UNGA Vote Condemning Russia's 'Annexation' Of Ukrainian Regions

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted a resolution on Wednesday (October 12) condemning the Russian annexation of the four regions in Ukraine. Around 143 members voted in favour of the resolution, while only five voted against it. A total of 35 abstained from the resolution, which also included India.

This resolution came only a few days after Russia vetoed an equivalent proposal in Security Council, in which India had abstained.

India Votes Against Russia!

As per the latest resolution, which has been adopted by the members where no one wields a veto, it condemns Russia's "attempted illegal annexations" of the four regions of Ukraine following "so-called referendums".

The vote came just two days after Russia and Ukraine clashed in the UNGA on October 10, reported News18.

Earlier this week, on Monday, India had voted to deny Russia's call to hold a secret ballot at the UNGA on a draft resolution to condemn Moscow's "attempted illegal annexation" of territories in Ukraine.

Albania asked for an open vote after Russia had suggested a secret ballot on the resolution on Ukraine, and India voted for a procedural vote called by Albania. The proposal by Albania had received 107 votes in favour, with 13 nations opposing the vote and 39 abstentions. However, twenty-four nations, including Russia. China and Iran did not vote.

Russia's Ukraine Offensive

In the last week of September, Russian President Vladimir Putin penned the documents to officially announce the annexation of four Ukrainian regions - Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Luhansk. Following that, this week witnessed heightened tension between Ukraine and Russia on the back of the Crimea bridge blast, which triggered missile strikes on numerous major Ukraine cities from the Kremlin.

Condemning the recent Russian actions, UN chief Antonio Guterres stated that he was deeply shocked and represented "another unacceptable escalation" of the war.

The strikes, which have allegedly caused widespread damage to numerous civilian areas and caused dozens of deaths and injuries, showed that "as always", the common people were paying the highest price for Russia's invasion of February 24.

This week, Putin warned of "harsh" reprisals after the Crimea bridge attack on Saturday. In a television appearance, Putin said Russia had struck military and infrastructure targets across Ukraine following the Crimea bridge blast.

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