Putin has become 'a terrorist,'says Zelensky, urges UN to expel Russia

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused the Russian leader Putin of turning into a "terrorist" two days after Russian missiles destroyed a shopping centre with more than 1,000 people inside in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk, killing at least 18 people. For more than four months, Russia and Ukraine have been at war. Millions of people have been displaced or forced to leave the country due to the war, which has claimed thousands of lives.

In a video message to the UN Security Council, Zelensky particularly mentioned the Baltic republics, Poland, Moldova, and Kazakhstan while stating that the Kremlin must be "brought to justice" in order for it to prevent "it from bringing terrorist action" to other European and Asian nations.

"We need to act urgently to do everything to make Russia stop the killing spree," Zelensky said.

After Russia's military denied targeting the mall on Monday, he suggested the UN send a representative to Ukraine so officials could independently confirm that the deadly attack on the Kremenchuk retail complex "in fact was a Russian missile strike."

According to Zelensky, the Russian president has turned into a terrorist. "Terrorist attacks every day, seven days a week. They work as terrorists every day."

Zelensky cited Article 6 of the UN Charter, which states that a member that's "persistently violated the principles contained in the present Charter may be expelled from the organisation by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council."

That's unlikely to occur because Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council and has veto power.

A provision that would call a General Assembly meeting immediately if any of the Security Council's five veto-wielding members used their authority to obstruct a resolution was overwhelmingly adopted by the UN in April.