Today, at the UNWTO General Assembly, russia's membership in the World Tourism Organization was suspended by a majority vote.

"Europe's largest desert Oleshkivsky Sands, 9 national parks, the world-famous biosphere reserve "Askania-Nova", Dzharylgach Island, the resort coast of the Sea of Azov - this is a non-exhaustive list of tourist gems of Ukraine, which were captured by russia. A state that commits such crimes, not to mention the murders of thousands of civilians in Ukraine, has no legal or moral right to be part of the civilized world.

The exclusion of russia was the result of systematic work by the Ministry of Infrastructure. Back in early March, we initiated appeals to 11 international infrastructure organizations, including the UNWTO, to expel russia from them. Today we have obtained a practical result of these efforts.

I am grateful to all the states that supported russia's exile. Thanks to this decision, russia's tourism industry will be pushed back in development for decades to come. We will continue to do our utmost to keep russia in a total blockade," said Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.

40 countries voted in favor of excluding russia, while 11 voted against, including Syria, belarus, Kazakhstan, Nicaragua, Zimbabwe, Algeria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Korea, China and Egypt.

Background

The UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that is responsible for promoting responsible, sustainable and accessible tourism. The organization enumerates 160 member states.