Russia pushing for secret vote in bid to regain UN human rights seat next week

Russia will seek re-election to the United Nations Human Rights Council next week, reports Reuters with reference to anonymous diplomats.

Amid talk of "fatigue" from the war in Ukraine, which benefits the Kremlin, some diplomats believe Russia has a chance of returning to the UN Human Rights Council in a secret vote on Tuesday.

"I think there is Ukraine fatigue. And second, many people do not want U.N. bodies to be dominated by Western voices, not to mention overbearing attitudes," said one of the high-ranking Asian diplomats.

Critics of the aggressor state say that its re-election at a time when Ukraine is at war will undermine the credibility of the Council, which is based in Geneva and is one of the most effective UN bodies.

However, according to journalists' sources, Moscow is actively attracting the votes of African, Asian and other non-Western countries in the 193-member UN General Assembly, calling the position of Washington and its allies "unfair bias" and "hypocrisy".

On April 7, 2022, after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UN General Assembly suspended Russia's membership in the Human Rights Council.