'War is an absurdity in 21st century,' says UN's Guterres in Ukraine

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday described war as "evil" and absurd during a visit to Borodianka outside Kyiv, where Moscow's troops are accused of killing civilians during their occupation.

"I imagine my family in one of those houses that is now destroyed and black. I see my granddaughters running away in panic. The war is an absurdity in the 21st century. The war is evil. There is no way a war can be acceptable in the 21st century," Guterres said.

The United Nations chief during his first visit to the war-scarred country since Russia invaded on February 24, was also expected to visit the town of Bucha ahead of talks with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.


In Borodianka, Gutteres was accompanied by local military and civilian governors who showed the UN's head residential buildings that had been destroyed in Russian attacks.

His visit to Ukraine comes on the back of talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin whose troops over recent days have pushed deeper into the eastern Donbas region.