Ukraine’s Ambassador to Indonesia Vasyl Hamianin may get a talking to from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs over his response to the ministry’s statement condemning Israel.
On Aug. 7, the ministry posted a Twitter thread condemning “the attacks carried out by Israel in Gaza which resulted in civilian casualties, including children,” and calling on the United Nations to take immediate action to prevent more Palestinian suffering.
Writing in all caps, Hamianin called on Indonesia to also issue strong condemnation of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, which has killed hundreds of children, including Muslims.
The tweet, which was still up this morning, appears to have been deleted as of this article’s publication.
While few can begrudge Hamianin for his strong stance against Russia’s invasion of his country, his tweet drew the ire of the ministry.
“What the Ukrainian ambassador did was not appropriate from a representative on a diplomatic mission,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Teuku Faizasyah said in a press briefing yesterday.
He added that the ministry has summoned Hamianin to explain himself, as he was seen to have questioned Indonesia’s foreign policy.
Hamianin confirmed to Coconuts this morning that he is set to meet with the ministry next Tuesday. However, he declined to give further comment.
Indonesia, which has the world’s largest Muslim population, has traditionally been a strong supporter of Palestine and against Israel’s decades of brutal occupation of the territory.
Israel recently launched their bombardment of Gaza in what they say is an operation targeting the Islamic Jihad armed group. The UN said the “unconscionable” attacks claimed the lives of 19 children in occupied Palestinian territory in the last week alone, bringing the death toll of children to 37 since the start of the year.
In a recent three-day onslaught of Gaza, the UN said 48 Palestinians were killed, 22 of whom were civilians.
Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February, The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) verified a total of 5,401 civilian deaths as of August 7, 2022. Of them, 355 were children.
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