UN envoy cuts short Crimea mission after gunmen threat—aide

UN Special Envoy to Ukraine Robert Serry answers questions as he leaves the naval headquarters in Simferopol, Ukraine, Wednesday, March 5, 2014. The special UN envoy who is visiting Crimea was threatened by 10 to 15 armed men on Wednesday and ordered to leave the region, where Ukraine and Russia are locked in a tense standoff, UN officials said. Later, an Associated Press reporter found Robert Serry in the business class lounge of the Simferopol airport on Wednesday evening. “I’m safe. My visit was interrupted for reasons that I cannot understand,” the Dutch diplomat said in a statement to AP. AP PHOTO

SIMFEROPOL, Crimea—UN special envoy to Crimea Robert Serry cut short his mission to the region Wednesday after unidentified gunmen threatened him and ordered him to leave, an assistant traveling with him told AFP.

Serry, who had been sent to assess the situation in the disputed Black Sea peninsula for UN chief Ban Ki-moon, was confronted by gunmen outside the Ukrainian naval headquarters in Crimea’s capital Simferopol.

After he was prevented from returning to his vehicle, he dropped into a cafe to use a telephone to alert the mission of the incident, and an angry group of pro-Russian activists briefly blocked his exit, the aide said.

Serry then left on foot for his hotel after his safety was assured, and he was driven to the airport where he was in a lounge waiting for a flight.

“He’s fine. The self-defense militias in Simferopol have guaranteed his security,” Serry’s assistant told AFP by phone from the car.

“He wants to fly to Kiev but there is no ticket for him yet. He is hoping that he can leave Crimea without further incident,” she said.

Serry himself would not speak on the phone.

‘Feels threatened’

UN deputy secretary general Jan Eliasson said: “He is in good shape physically but he feels threatened.”

Serry, a former Dutch ambassador to Kiev who was traveling with a UN colleague, was accosted by gunmen outside the naval headquarters on Wednesday and warned “he should leave Crimea,” according to the United Nations.

Serry had arrived only Tuesday in the tense Crimean peninsula, which has come under de facto control by Russian forces.

He had already aborted a trip to Crimea last week, saying tensions made it impossible to visit the peninsula.