As the world fights #COVID19, we are also fighting an epidemic of harmful falsehoods & lies. I'm announcing a new @UN Communications Response initiat… - António Guterres

The only outcome to all this is more suffering, more destruction, and more horror as far as the eye can see. The Ukrainian people are enduring a living hell — and the reverberations are being felt worldwide with skyrocketing food, energy and fertilizer prices threatening to spiral into a global hunger crisis.

Ukraine is on fire. The country is being decimated before the eyes of the world. The impact on civilians is reaching terrifying proportions. Countless innocent people – including women and children – have been killed. After being hit by Russian forces, roads, airports and schools lie in ruins. According to the World Health Organization, at least 24 health facilities have suffered attacks. Hundreds of thousands of people are without water or electricity. With each passing hour, two things are increasingly clear: First — it keeps getting worse. Second — whatever the outcome, this war will have no winners, only losers.

In many ways, we are at ground zero for the world we need to build — a world of respect for international law, the UN Charter and the power of multilateralism, a world that protects civilians, a world that advances human rights, a world where leaders live up to the values that they have promised to uphold. That, too, is a struggle — but it is one that we must win for the sake of every country, community and person around the world.