Russia is removed from the Human Rights Council by the UN vote.

• On Thursday, the Human Rights Council seat of Russia was suspended by the United Nations.
• The motion to remove Russia from the Human Rights Council was approved with 93 votes in favor, 24 against, and 58 abstentions.
• Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, presented a proposal after allegations that Russian soldiers mistreated and murdered Ukrainian civilians in Bucha.

The Human Rights Council suspended Russia from its seat on Thursday due to atrocities committed in Ukraine.

Earlier in the week, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, presented a proposal after allegations that Russian soldiers mistreated and murdered Ukrainian civilians in Bucha, a neighborhood near Kyiv.

On Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the aftermath of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Bucha as a "genocide" and accused Russia of war crimes. The Kremlin has previously described its military actions in Ukraine as a "special operation" and has denied targeting civilians.

Russia's membership on the council harms its credibility, "undermines the entire U.N. and is simply incorrect," according to Thomas-Greenfield.

The motion to remove Russia from the Human Rights Council was approved with 93 votes in favor, 24 against, and 58 abstentions.

Among the U.N. members that voted against the resolution were Belarus, China, Iran, Russia, and Syria. India chose to abstain from voting.

The U.N. Human Rights Council, responsible for maintaining high human rights standards, is composed of members who serve three-year terms and cannot be reelected for two consecutive terms.

The only country suspended from the 47-member Geneva-based council is Libya. This occurred in 2011 following a violent crackdown against protesters by forces loyal to then-leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya urged members to suspend Russia from the Human Rights Council before the vote.

Kyslytsya stated before the United Nations that Bucha and other Ukrainian cities and villages, where thousands of peaceful residents have been killed, tortured, raped, abducted, and robbed by the Russian army, demonstrate how far the Russian Federation has deviated from its initial human rights declarations.

He implored nations not to remain passive onlookers, emphasizing that abstaining from voting would equate to taking a stand and aligning with Russia.

On Tuesday, Zelenskyy called for a Nuremberg-style tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russian war crimes.

He called for the immediate prosecution of the Russian military and those who ordered them for war crimes in Ukraine in a nearly 20-minute speech before the United Nations Security Council.

Russian troops are accused of torturing and killing at least 300 civilians in Bucha, as claimed by Ukraine, which was confirmed by Zelenskyy's appearance before the international body.

The weekend saw a surge in global condemnation after gruesome photos of corpses on the streets were released, showing victims with bound hands and gunshot wounds to the back of their heads.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary-General, stated on Tuesday that the alliance is collaborating with the U.N.'s International Criminal Court to probe Russian war crimes in Ukraine.

The alliance chief stated on Tuesday that targeting and murdering civilians is a war crime and that all the facts must be established and those responsible must be brought to justice.

NATO's Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, disclosed to reporters from NATO headquarters that the alliance had trustworthy evidence of war crimes committed in Bucha and other Ukrainian cities.