UN sets up inquiry into Russia’s alleged rights abuses in Ukraine

GENEVA - The UN Human Rights Council on Thursday passed a resolution by a strong majority, setting up an investigation into allegations of rights abuses by Russian troops in parts of Ukraine formerly under their control.

The Geneva-based Council passed the resolution through a vote, with 33 members voting in favour and two against (China, Eritrea). There were 12 abstentions.

Russia was recently suspended from the 47-member Council. However, it could still have joined the session as an observer but chose not to do so in protest at the resolution which it said amounted to political score-settling.

Meanwhile Finland said on Thursday it would apply to join NATO “without delay,” with Sweden expected to follow, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine looked set to bring about the very expansion of the Western military alliance that Vladimir Putin aimed to prevent.

The decision by the two Nordic countries to abandon the neutrality they maintained throughout the Cold War would be one of the biggest shifts in European security in decades. Moscow called Finland’s announcement a direct threat to Russia, and threatened retaliation, including unspecified “military-technical” measures.

It came even as Russia’s war in Ukraine was suffering another big setback, with Ukrainian forces driving Russian troops out of the region around the second largest city Kharkiv, the fastest Ukrainian advance since forcing Russia to withdraw from the capital and northeast more than a month ago.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Finns would be “warmly welcomed” and promised a “smooth and swift” accession process.

Finland and Sweden are the two biggest EU countries yet to join NATO. Finland’s 1, 300km border will more than double the length of the frontier between the U.S.-led alliance and Russia, putting NATO guards a few hours’ drive from the northern outskirts of St Petersburg.