UN denies report that staff were warned not to call Russian attack on Ukraine a 'war' or 'invasion'

The report sparked backlash, including from Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who called on the UN to refute the report if it was false.

• The UN denied a report that it warned staffers not to refer to Russia's attack on Ukraine as a "war" or "invasion."
• "It is simply not the case that staff have been instructed not to use words like "war" and "invasion" to describe the situation," a UN spokesman said. 
• Ukraine's foreign minister had called the purported warning "censorship."

The United Nations has refuted a report that said the intergovernmental organization warned staffers in an email not to refer to Russia's attack on Ukraine as a "war" or "invasion."

"There is a mistaken impression that UN staff were told to avoid using certain words to describe the situation in Ukraine," Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesman for the UN's Secretary-General, told Insider in a statement on Tuesday. 

"It is simply not the case that staff have been instructed not to use words like "war" and "invasion" to describe the situation," Dujarric said. 

The Irish Times published a report earlier Tuesday, saying that the UN emailed staff on Monday advising them not to refer to Russia's attack on Ukraine as a "war" or "invasion."

The purported email instead instructed UN staff to use the terms "conflict" or "military offensive" to describe Russia's aggression against Ukraine, according to The Irish Times, which reported that the email was seen by the news outlet. 

The report sparked backlash, including from Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba who tweeted, "It's hard to believe that the UN could essentially impose the same kind of censorship as the Kremlin imposes inside Russia now by banning the use of words 'war' and 'invasion' among UN staff. I urge the UN to swiftly refute such reports if they are false. UN reputation at stake."

Dujarric noted that on Monday, UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo called the attack an "invasion" in a tweet.

Dujarric explained that UN Secretary-General António Guterres "has used a wide range of words in his statements and remarks to the press to describe what is going on."

"At the same time, I would remind you that the staff of the United Nations are international civil servants, and uphold the responsibilities that that position entails," Dujarric said. 

He continued, "Accordingly, staff are asked to frame any communications on Ukraine as well as other political matters in a manner that is consistent with the position of the Organization and the statements of the Secretary-General. This applies not only to the ongoing situation in Ukraine but other situations around the world."

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Russia has faced global condemnation for the attack, including harsh backlash for alleged war crimes against Ukrainian citizens.