U.S. at UN: Kremlin seeks to hide military losses behind pseudo-elections in Ukraine

Ambassador Robert Wood, Alternative Representative for Special Political Affairs at the U.S. Mission to the UN, said this at a meeting of the UN Security Council, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The Kremlin is rushing to fabricate electoral successes to hide its military losses in Ukraine from the Russian people," he said.

He added that the Russian "elections" in Ukraine are a complete falsification, and Moscow is well aware of this, but they are trying to create the appearance of legitimacy and somehow increase the "turnout" in the occupied territories.

The diplomat noted that Russia's attempts to hold sham elections in the temporarily occupied territories in no way represent a legitimate expression of the will of the people of Ukraine, who have consistently resisted and bravely fought Russia's efforts to change Ukraine's borders by force for nearly 19 months.

"The United States will never recognize Russia's claims to any of Ukraine's territory. We condemn Russia's continued occupation unequivocally, and we will continue to work with allies and partners to provide Ukraine with the military equipment it needs to defend itself," he said.

In this regard, he called on all UN member states to refrain from taking steps that promote confidence in Russia's fake elections on the sovereign territory of Ukraine.

"We must all call out Russia's egregious violations of international law for what they are: A stain on our collective history as a body founded on maintaining world peace, and an assault on our rules-based international order," he said.

The diplomat noted that Ukraine's fight is not only a fight for its own survival, but a fight in defense of the rules-based international order and its foundational principles.

"That is why it is imperative that we all stand unequivocally with Ukraine," he said.