An independent U.S. government human rights and security watchdog is calling on the Biden administration to take immediate steps to remove Russia as a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, after Russia hit civilian areas in Kyiv and other major Ukrainian cities this week with missile strikes.In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken obtained by Foreign Policy, the bipartisan Helsinki Commission urged the United States to initiate a protest of Russia’s standing as a permanent member of the Security Council based on the violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, which U.S. President Joe Biden has said flies in the face of the U.N. Charter.Under the long-shot plan, Ukraine would issue credentials to a representative to claim the seat, allowing the United States or another nation to protest Russia’s standing as a Security Council member, which derives from a 1991 deal for Moscow to retain the Soviet Union’s permanent seat after the country collapsed.That could force a vote for Russia’s ability to remain on the Security Council.Last month, before this week General Assembly vote, Russia vetoed a draft Security Council resolution circulated by the United States and Albania that called Moscow’s illegal annexation of four Ukrainian territories as “a threat to international peace and security.” Ukraine’s push to expel Russia from the security council dates back to before the invasion, but officials–all the way up to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky–have re-upped their concerns after Russian massacres, such as in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, fearing Russia could continue to obstruct efforts to condemn human rights abuses."