Nigeria and 140 different countries casted a ballot against Russia's intrusion of Ukraine and requested the prompt withdrawal of troops from the Eastern European country.
The choice was reached on Wednesday at the United Nations General Assembly in a strong reproach of Moscow's attack.

After over two days of unprecedented discussion, which saw the Ukrainian envoy blame Russia for massacre, 141 out of 193 United Nations part states decided in favor of the non-restricting goal.

"The world is dismissing Russia's falsehoods," US President Joe Biden said in a proclamation later Wednesday. "Russia is answerable for the overwhelming maltreatments of basic liberties and the worldwide philanthropic emergency that we are watching unfurl in Ukraine progressively
China was among the 35 countries which abstained, while just five — Eritrea, North Korea, Syria, Belarus, and of course Russia — voted against it.

The resolution “deplores” the invasion of Ukraine “in the strongest terms” and condemns President Vladimir Putin’s decision to put his nuclear forces on alert.

The vote had been touted by diplomats as a bellwether of democracy in a world where autocracy is on the rise and came as Putin’s forces bear down on Kyiv while terrified Ukrainians flee.

“They have come to deprive Ukraine of the very right to exist,” Ukraine’s ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the Assembly ahead of the vote.

“It’s already clear that the goal of Russia is not an occupation only. It is genocide
Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Moscow has pleaded “self-defense” under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

But that has been roundly rejected by Western countries who accuse Moscow of violating Article 2 of the Charter, requiring UN members to refrain from the threat or use of force to resolve a crisis.

The European Union’s ambassador to the UN Olof Skoog said the vote was “not just about Ukraine.”

“It is about defending an international order based on rules we all have signed up to,” he said in a statement.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the General Assembly’s message was “loud and clear.”

“End hostilities in Ukraine — now. Silence the guns — now,” he said in a statement.

“As bad as the situation is for the people in Ukraine right now, it threatens to get much, much worse. The ticking clock is a time bomb.”

Some delegations chose to place stuffed animals on their tables during the session — a stark visual reminder of the conflict’s devastating impact on children
The text of the resolution — led by European countries in coordination with Ukraine — has undergone numerous changes in recent days.

It no longer “condemns” the invasion as initially expected, but instead “deplores in the strongest terms the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine.”

Nearly every General Assembly speaker unreservedly condemned the war.

“If the United Nations has any purpose, it is to prevent war,” the US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said during her speech on Wednesday.

She accused Russia of “preparing to increase the brutality of its campaign.”

“We’ve seen videos of Russian forces moving exceptionally lethal weaponry into Ukraine, which has no place on the battlefield. That includes cluster munitions and vacuum bombs, which are banned under the Geneva Convention,” Thomas-Greenfield said.

Russia’s ally Belarus offered a staunch defense of the invasion, however.

Ambassador Valentin Rybakov blasted sanctions imposed by the West on Russia as “the worst example of economic and financial terrorism.”

And he followed other Russian allies such as Syria in condemning the “double standards” of Western nations who have invaded countries including Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan in recent decades.

Other speakers cited fears of a domino effect should Ukraine fall to Russia. Colombia railed against any return to “empire,” while Albania wondered: “Who will be next?”

From the Arab world it was Kuwait, itself the victim of an invasion by Iraq in 1990, whose denunciation of Moscow was the most explicit
Japan and New Zealand led condemnation from Asia, but the continent’s giants — China, India, and Pakistan — all abstained. During the debate, Beijing had stressed the world had “nothing to gain” from a new Cold War.

On the meeting’s sidelines, Washington has taken aim at Russians working at the United Nations, leveling accusations of espionage and demanding expulsions