South Africa abstained from a United Nations General Assembly resolution condemning Russia for its holding of referendums in four occupied Ukrainian provinces last month before annexing them to Russia.

Wednesday's United Nations General Assembly vote means South Africa has abstained from every UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, including one in April when Russia was suspended from the UN Human Rights Council.

The resolution debated on Wednesday whether to condemn Russia's "illegal so-called referendums" in the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia" and its "attempted illegal annexation" of them was carried by the necessary two-thirds majority of UN members, with 143 votes for, five against and 35 abstentions.

The resolution stated that the referendums held in the four regions from 23 to 27 September 2022 while they were partly under the temporary military control of Russia and the subsequent attempted illegal annexation of these regions, "have no validity under international law and do not form the basis for any alteration of the status of these regions of Ukraine".

It noted that the regions had been "under the temporary military control of the Russian Federation, as a result of aggression, in violation of the...