Russia looking to regain Human Rights Council seat

Russia has a battle on its hands in its effort to regain a seat at the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday, 10 October.

Ahead of that vote, Ukraine's military said it had destroyed 27 out of 36 Russian attack drones in the south of the country.

Ukraine says it shot down 27 Russian drones overnight

Ukraine's military said it had destroyed 27 out of 36 Russian attack drones in an overnight wave of attacks, in the south of the country.

The Ukrainian Air Force said on Telegram that 27 "Shahed-136/131" drones were downed in southern Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odesa. The post did not say which targets the other nine drones may have hit.

Reports of Russian attacks have increased since Moscow exited the Black Sea grain initiative, which allowed safe passage of grain from Ukrainian ports.

Russia vying to regain Human Rights Council seat it lost after Ukraine invasion

The 193-member United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday will elect 15 members to the Human Rights Council.

Russia is looking to regain its seat which was suspended last year, following the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia will be up against Albania and Bulgaria for the two available seats allocated to the East Europe region.

Moscow's UN representative, Vassily Nebenzia, has accused Washington of fronting a campaign to prevent a return to the international human rights body.

"The main phobia of our American colleagues today is electing Russia to the Human Rights Council," Nebenzia told a Security Council meeting.

The US and other nations have sent letters to members of the General Assembly urging them to reject Russia's reelection.

US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood told the Security Council that Russia's reelection, "while it openly continues to commit war crimes and other atrocities would be an ugly stain that would undermine the credibility of the institution and the United Nations."