The United Nations said Wednesday that U.N. envoy Robert Serry was threatened by armed men in the Crimean region of Ukraine.
But it said Serry was in "good shape" and had not been kidnapped, contrary to an Interfax report citing the Ukraine Interior Ministry.
"He is in good shape physically," U.N. Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson told reporters in a conference call Wednesday.
Eliasson said Serry was threatened by unidentified armed men who said he should leave Crimea. Eliasson said Serry tried to get in his car, but the unidentified men prevented his car from leaving. He went to a cafe, where he called Eliasson.
According to ITV News' James Mates, Serry is still in the coffee shop. The armed men — "local militia"— are blocking the exit:
UN special envoy Robert Serry with me in coffee shop. Outside local militia block the door. #Ukrainepic.twitter.com/pbotNqCG3i
— James Mates (@jamesmatesitv) March 5, 2014Mates also tweeted a photo of the "local militia" outside the coffee shop:
View of militia from inside coffee shop where UN envoy Robert Serry is blockaded inside pic.twitter.com/ojbAruMzyW
— James Mates (@jamesmatesitv) March 5, 2014Interfax-Ukraine also reported that Mikhail Koval, a high-ranking officer at Ukraine’s State Border Guard, was kidnapped by about 40 unidentified people near a coast guard unit in Yalta.
The strategic Black Sea peninsula is currently occupied by Russian soldiers and pro-Russian "defense forces" who have surrounded all key Ukrainian military facilities and set up roadblocks.
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