West and Russia clash over UN probe of drone use in Ukraine

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Many U.N. Security Council members led by the U.S. and its Western allies insist Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has the right to investigate whether Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians and power plants in Ukraine. They are dismissing Moscow’s claim that the U.N. chief would be violating the U.N. Charter. Russia’s U.N. ambassador on Wednesday argued that only the Security Council can mandate an investigation. U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood called Russia’s contention “simply dumbfounding” and an attempt “to deflect attention from its own egregious wrongdoing in Ukraine.”