Russia's envoy to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, vetoed the UN Security Council's draft resolution against Russia.

The Russian envoy called the draft resolution unbalanced, noting that Russian forces are not bombing Ukrainian cities. 

The UN Security Council had a session in order to pass a US-sponsored resolution condemning "the Russian attack on Ukraine," which was vetoed by Russia. 

Moscow also thanked the Security Council members who did not vote for the draft resolution, and its envoy stressed that Russia condemns Ukrainian nationalists' use of "civilians as a human shield."

"We strongly condemn the deployment of the positions of artillery and multiple rocket launchers by the nationalists in residential neighborhoods," he said. "This is a direct violation of international humanitarian law," Nebenzya said.

Russia's Ambassador also blamed the West, which sponsored this draft resolution on Ukraine, for the current crisis, saying that these countries made Ukraine "a pawn in your geopolitical game, not caring at all about the interests of the Ukrainian people."

The diplomat called the draft resolution "nothing but another move in this cruel and inhuman chess game against Ukraine."

China, India, and the UAE abstained from the vote, while the 11 other UNSC members voted in favor of the draft resolution.

Putin had authorized a special military operation to protect Donbass on Thursday, with the aim of de-militarizing and "de-Nazifying" Ukraine.

"Leading NATO countries pursue their own goal by fully supporting Ukraine's extreme Nazis and neo-Nazis, who, in turn, will never forgive the people of Crimea and Sevastopol for their free choice to reunify with Russia", the Russian President said.

"They will, of course, go to Crimea, like to Donbass, the way they do it, to kill, like executioners from the bands of Ukrainian Nazi supporters of Hitler were killing innocent people during World War II."