The United Nations Ukraine mission has not worked in Siverodonetsk since the end of February 2022 due to the security situation. This was reported to StopFake by the UN office in Ukraine in response to a question about when the UN left its office in Siverodonetsk. This statement confirms that the news about Ukrainian Forces allegedly “shelling the UN office in Siverodonetsk” is a Russian propaganda fake. The organization has not operated in this Luhansk region city for more than 7 months.
Russian media claim that the Ukrainian army “shelled the UN office” and used “HIMARS to destroy the UN mission building in Siverodonetsk”. However, the UN office in Siverodonetsk has not been operational for more than seven months.
Despite this, the fake with sensational headlines was widely spread across the Kremlin platforms – Ukraina.ru, Tsargrad, Readovka, Donpress, e-news. Although some propaganda sites specified in their headlines that the destroyed building was a “former UN office,” this did not turn their fake into the truth. This was yet another attempt to divert attention from the destroyed Russian occupying headquarters in Siverodonetsk and to accuse the Ukrainian forces of “shelling peaceful objects”.
The Ukrainian General Staff reported (from 04:34 on video) that on September 10, “missile troops and artillery hit six enemy command posts”. Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesman for the Odesa military administration, explained: “The Russian headquarters was destroyed in Siverodonetsk”.
On September 30, the Russian occupying media reported only one destroyed building in Siverodonetsk, the building at 8 Yehorova Street. The Siverodonetsk UN office was located at this address, but only until the end of February 2022.
After the Ukrainian Armed Forces withdrew to the territory of the Azot chemical power plant, Siverodonetsk civilian districts were controlled by Russian occupants. On June 20, the Ukrainian Armed Forces were 2-3 kilometers away from the former “UN office”.
After the Ukrainian army stopped controlling the city, a June 16 video filmed by supporters of the occupiers appeared in the public domain. The 40-second overview “Siverodonetsk now Yehorova Street clip 2” showed the “UN office” building and military equipment next to it (from 00:28 on the video).
This footage was shot on June 16, four months after the UN left Siverodonetsk and some time after the Ukrainian Armed Forces withdrew to the industrial zone of the Azot chemical plant.
Military equipment being near the former UN office building also confirms the official Ukrainian statements that “the Russian headquarters was destroyed in Siverodonetsk”. And it debunks fake Russian propaganda, which tries to convince us that Ukrainian armed forces shelled the “Siverodonetsk UN mission office”.
