Short answers, pulled from the story.
The United Nations Security Council was founded when the UN came into existence on the 24th of October 1945, upon ratification of the UN Charter. It met for the first time on the 17th of January 1946 at Church House, Westminster, in London.
The five permanent members are Russia (originally the Soviet Union), China (originally the Republic of China, replaced by the People's Republic in 1971), the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. They were the victorious great powers of World War II and each holds veto power over substantive resolutions.
Under Article 27 of the UN Charter, any one of the five permanent members can block a substantive resolution by casting a negative vote, regardless of how many other members support it. Through the end of 2024, Russia and the Soviet Union had cast approximately 120 vetoes, the United States 89, the United Kingdom 29, and France and China 16 each.
As of recent figures, the UN maintained approximately 70,000 peacekeeping personnel from over 120 contributing countries across 11 active missions. Nepal, Bangladesh, and India are the top troop contributors, with approximately 74% of all UN peacekeepers deployed in sub-Saharan Africa.
The G4 nations, Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan, have proposed expanding the Council from 15 to 25 or 26 members, with six new permanent seats distributed across Africa, the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Western Europe. New permanent members would not immediately gain veto power, with that question reviewed after a transitionary period of 10 to 15 years.
Russia vetoed a draft resolution deploring its invasion of Ukraine on the 25th of February 2022, with eleven members voting in favour. In September 2022, Russia vetoed a second resolution condemning its attempted annexation of four Ukrainian regions. These vetoes contributed to the General Assembly adopting Resolution ES-11/1 deploring the invasion, and Resolution 76/262 requiring a General Assembly debate within ten working days whenever any veto is cast.