UN does not condemn strike on Shaheda plant

No, the United Nations did not condemn the strike on the Shahed factory and oil refinery. During a recent briefing, UN Secretary-General spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, did not mention any condemnation in response to a journalist’s inquiry, and no official decisions were made by the UN.

Here’s what happened:

On Tuesday, April 2, Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, held a briefing covering events in Gaza, Sudan, Lebanon, Ukraine, and other countries. 

Dujarric briefly touched on Ukraine, mentioning missile attacks by the occupiers on critical infrastructure, financial aid, and the delivery of clean water and sanitation kits to Kurakhove. Notably, he did NOT call on russia to halt its strikes on critical infrastructure.

During the Q&A session following his speech, a journalist named Denis posed a question: 

“Today, UAVs equipped with NATO gear targeted facilities in Tatarstan. Reports suggest injuries, including two… (unintelligible). Any comments on this?”

While Denis’s identity remains unclear, early reports from russian media connecting NATO equipment to the UAVs immediately after the attack suggest he might be a russian journalist or a mercenary working for the russians.

Dujarric responded: 

“We oppose this and call for an end to all attacks on civilian infrastructure.” 

As you can see, Stéphane Dujarric simply echoed sentiments that we’ve been hearing for months from leaders of various countries and the UN. Given the limited time since the attack, it’s improbable that Dujarric had detailed information on the specific targets hit. Moreover, the journalist failed to mention the Shahed factory and the oil refinery. 

russian propagandists quickly seized the opportunity, spinning the narrative to suggest that “the UN condemns the attacks on civilian infrastructure in Tatarstan.” 

This tactic proved effective, and unfortunately, not only international observers but also some Ukrainian journalists fell for it. Consequently, headlines like “UN condemns attack on Shahed factory” flooded media outlets.

In a commentary to Radio Liberty, Ukraine’s GUR representative Andriy Yusov neither confirmed nor denied the involvement of the GUR or SBU in the events in Tatarstan. However, he emphasized that “foreign-made weapons and equipment of our partners are not used in these situations”