On April Fools’ Day, the Russian Federation assumed presidency of the United Nations Security Council as it wages war on Ukraine, in what Ukraine’s president said showed its “total bankruptcy.”

Russia last took the chair of the intergovernmental body, which is tasked with maintaining peace and combating acts of international aggression, in February 2022 when Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his invasion of neighboring Ukraine in violation of Article 2(4) of the U.N. Charter.

On April 1, as Russia assumed charge of the council, Putin stands accused by the International Criminal Court (ICC) of war crimes. The ICC is an international justice body not associated with the U.N.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced outrage at the situation, calling the U.N.’s adherence to its procedural rules in the face of clear violations by member states an absurd and destructive move.

“Unfortunately, we … have some obviously absurd and destructive news,” Zelenskyy said in his daily video address, adding that Russian shelling had killed a five-month-old boy on March 31.

“And at the same time, Russia is chairing the U.N. Security Council. It’s hard to imagine anything that proves more the total bankruptcy of such institutions,” he said.

The presidency of the U.N. council rotates alphabetically among its 15 members every month.

The Kremlin and Russian officials vowed to “exercise all its rights” in the role, following what it said were attempts by the United States to strip it of its right to assume the presidency.

Russia’s First Deputy Permanent Representative to the U.N. Dmitry Polyansky said on his Telegram channel that “international law and procedure rules, developed over decades are actually in effect in the U.N., instead of the ‘rule-based order,’ which the collective West seeks to replace international law with,” reported Russian state media TASS.

“As a president should be, we will act as an honest broker, just like we did in February 2022, when our presidency coincided with the beginning of the special operation,” the official noted. “Any attempts to provoke us are doomed to fail in advance. Unlike our former Western partners, we play fair [in] the international arena and we do not promote double standards.”

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on March 30 urged Russia to “conduct itself professionally” when it assumes the role, saying there were no means to block Moscow from the post.

“Unfortunately, Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council, and no feasible international legal pathway exists to change that reality,” she said, adding that the United States expects Russia “to continue to use its seat on the council to spread disinformation.”

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called Russia’s presidency of the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) a “slap in the face to the international community.”

“I urge the current UNSC members to thwart any Russian attempts to abuse its presidency. I also remind that Russia is an outlaw on the UNSC,” he said.

Kuleba told London-based think tank Chatham House on March 30 that “you can not imagine a worse joke for April Fools Day” than Russia assuming the UNSC presidency on April 1.

Zelenskyy, echoing conservative voices in the West, said it was time for a general overhaul of global institutions, including the Security Council.

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“Reform is obviously necessary to prevent a terrorist state—and any other state that wants to be a terrorist—from destroying the peace,” he said.

Some 400 days into the war—which has killed thousands, destroyed Ukrainian cities, and set millions of civilians to flight—Russia continues to take over parts of the country, pressing on with its assault in the east.

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Earlier, Zelenskyy adviser Andriy Yermak also hit out at Iran, which Kyiv and its allies accuse of supplying Russia with arms. Tehran denies it is giving weapons to Russia.

In March, the ICC  issued an arrest warrant for Putin and his commissioner for children’s rights, accusing them of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine.

The April Fools’ Day situation at the UNSC drew significant attention from observers worldwide.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Twitter: “Russia taking over today @UN Security Council presidency is fitting for April fools’ day[.] Despite being a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia continuously violates the very essence of the UN legal framework[.] The EU will stand against any abuse by Russian presidency.”

Estonia’s U.N. delegation said on Twitter it was “Shameful & humiliating for UNSC that its next president” was Russia.

Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “April Fools’ Day is a perfect day to start the presidency of the UN Security Council, if the seat is taken by Ruzzia. This presidency is a #BadRussianJoke—Russia, waging a brutal war against Ukraine, can only lead #InsecurityCouncil.”

British MP Barry Sheerman said, “Please tell me that Russia taking on the Presidency of the United Nation’s Security Council is the sickest of sick jokes on this All Fools Day.”

Geopolitical strategist Velina Tchakarova, director of the Austrian Institute for European and Security Policy, told i24News that “Moscow will take advantage of its powers to set up ‘Cold War 2.0 scenario,’ with Russia and China presenting a counternarrative to the U.S.”

Director of U.N. Watch Hillel Neuer said on Twitter: “Today on April 1, 2023 the U.N. announced that its Security Council is now being led by a murderous regime whose president is subject to an international arrest warrant for war crimes. This is not an April Fools Day joke, this is real.”

Reuters contributed to this report.