Moscow - Russia insists that the situation on the use of helicopters with UN emblems by Ukrainian servicemen, in particular outside Kramatorsk, be investigated and is in close contact with the UN secretariat regarding this issue.
“We are currently sorting this situation out because the use in the purposes – and we do not even know in which purposes but if it was related to some forceful actions against the blocked Ukrainian cities, in particular, Kramatorsk, it is absolutely incompatible with the UN goals and these helicopters should be used solely with the permission of and in accordance with the UN mandate. No one has issued such a mandate on the use of UN aircraft regarding Ukraine,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told Interfax.
“So this issue requires a comprehensive investigation and we will sort out the entire situation, including in our contacts in the UN secretariat. It is unknown for now what this threatens. First, it is necessary to deal with the details and purposes of the aircraft use. Then we will decide why planes with UN emblems were engaged,” Gatilov said.
“No one has issued the Ukrainian authorities any mandate on the use of such aircraft,” the deputy minister said. “This is clear,” he said.
It was reported earlier on Wednesday that UN representative Eri Kaneko said in a letter addressed to the Russia Today TV company that the Ukrainian authorities had to remove the UN emblems from helicopters, which the Ukrainian Guard used outside Kramatorsk.
The Department of Peacekeeping Operations and the Department of Field Support are in contact with the Ukrainian authorities in this regard, the document said.
Countries, providing servicemen for military contingents in UN operations and equipment for peacemaking missions, are obliged to remove all UN-related markings from the equipment upon its return to the country of origin or when the UN stops to using it officially, the letter said.
The government has the right to use aircraft bearing special insignia only for flights in the framework of the UN missions, Russia Today reported, citing assistance letters signed by the UN and countries providing military contingents for peacekeeping operations.
It emerged on May 13 that Ukrainian servicemen used helicopters with UN emblems, which were used during a peacemaking mission in Congo, outside Kramatorsk.
