Is Russia really a United Nations member state? 

To date, the UN Secretariat refuses to declassify docs that would show Russia’s accession to it or shed some light onto the situation.

Per documents, the UN’s Security Council permanent member state is the USSR, not Russia. The UN Security Council might have turned a blind eye to this fact in 1991, but it does not automatically  legalize Russia’s membership in it.

In his interview with European Pravda’s editor Sergiy Sydorenko, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Sergiy Kyslytsia explains the situation. Watch the interview in Ukrainian on our YouTube channel or read our article Russia Falsifies its UN Security Council Membership? Ukraine’s Accusations Explained.

What Mr. Kyslytsia said:

According to the Permanent Representative, fifty countries signed the UN’s Charter before its inception. They include the Soviet Union, Soviet Ukraine, and Soviet Belarus. Soviet Russia, however, did not sign the document. Despite having its own Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which enabled them to do so. 

Mr. Kyslytsia brought to light one other detail. During the last meeting of the UN Security Council in 1991 that was presided over by the USSR, representatives of the Council’s member states were informed that the U.N. Secretariat received a letter from Russia’s President Boris Yeltsin. In it, he informed that Russia plans on becoming the Union’s successor in the UN and the UN Security Council. However, the UN Charter envisions a separate procedure for granting membership in both.

Mr. Kyslitsia also quotes the Yugoslavian case. Like the USSR, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was among the UN’s creators. At the beginning of the 1990s, it dissolved into separate states. Like Russia, the new Yugoslavia wanted to proclaim itself as the successor of Federal Yugoslavia. However, the Security Council’s members, including Russia, noted that to do so, it must undergo the procedure in full. 

"Russia says that it is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, meaning that it enjoys a special status and has the right to veto. However, the list of permanent member states is written in the UN Charter: China, France, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and the U.S."

To find out why Russia was allowed to violate the fundamental rules of the United Nations, watch our video. Or read the full interview.