[Source: Aljazeera]

World leaders at the United Nations have called for Moscow to be held accountable for human rights violations in Ukraine as Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov defended his country’s actions in the seven-month war.

Addressing a meeting of the UN Security Council on alleged atrocities committed in Ukraine since Russia’s February 24 invasion, Lavrov on Thursday accused Ukraine of creating threats against Russian security and “brazenly trampling” the rights of Russians and Russian speakers in Ukraine.

Moscow has called the war a ‘special military operation’.

Ukraine has dominated discussions at the UN, where world leaders are gathering in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The special session of the Security Council took place a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the immediate mobilization of hundreds of thousands of reservists to fight in a war that has already killed thousands, displaced millions, destroyed cities and undermined the global economy.