UNITED NATIONS - News that United Nations envoy Robert Serry had been kidnapped or detained in Crimea spread through the UN press briefing room in New York on Wednesday morning, minutes before a previously scheduled telephone question and answer session with UN Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson from Kiev.
When Eliasson came on the line, he said Serry had just called him from a cafe in Crimea to say that he had been not kidnapped, but he unidentified men had threatened him. Some of them were armed.
See also: 9 Essential Questions About Ukraine, Answered
According to Eliassion, when Serry came out of a naval headquarters building, he was accosted and told to go to the airport and leave Crimea, but he refused. Serry instead got in his car, but abandoned shortly after and set out on foot for his hotel. That's when he stopped at the cafe to call Eliasson. Eliasson said it is not clear if Serry's work in Ukraine, or at least the Crimea region, would continue.
Two hours later, the UN told correspondents that Serry was "taking a late flight out of Simferopol and will shortly return to Kiev to continue his mission, which was cut short by today's incident."
But what now is his mission, with respect to Crimea?
UN special envoy Robert Serry with me in coffee shop. Outside local militia block the door. #Ukraine pic.twitter.com/pbotNqCG3i
— James Mates (@jamesmatesitv) March 5, 2014
View of militia from inside coffee shop where UN envoy Robert Serry is blockaded inside pic.twitter.com/ojbAruMzyW
— James Mates (@jamesmatesitv) March 5, 2014
First, a little background on Serry's trip to Crimea. Serry was recently mentioned in a leaked audio file in which U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland tells U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Geoff Pyatt that former U.S., now UN official Jeffrey Feltman "got" Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to send Serry to Ukraine (and that this could help "F*ck the EU").

In the last 24 hours, more leaked audio — call it Kwikileaks — reveals the European Union's Catherine Ashton and Estonia's Foreign Minister Urmat Paet discussing a prospective new Health Minister of Ukraine Olga, who said "all evidence shows the people killed by snipers, among police and people from the streets, that they were the same snipers killing people from both sides."

In the clip, the EU's Ashton said, "We do want to investigate."
So, what do the UN's Eliasson and Serry and UN human rights official Ivan Simonovic have to say about this? When Mashable asked, Ban's outgoing spokesperson Martin Nesirky said the UN will not comment on leaked audio — even though his office had previously commented on the audio of Nuland about Feltman and Serry.
Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vitaly Churkin, at the Security Council stakeout, questioned why Serry had been quoted as supporting "the process" on Feb. 22, just as the Feb. 21 agreement brokered by the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Poland was falling apart, and ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych fled.
Given this, was Serry the right person to send to the Crimea — apparently without any UN Department of Safety and Security guards? Eliasson didn't answer these questions. Instead, Nesirky selected questions only from CBS (on behalf the United Nations Correspondents Association), The New York Times, Al Jazeera, France 24 and BBC. All venerable media, for sure — but all coming from one side on this story.
There are, however, Russian (state) reporters and media from countries more supportive of Russia's position. But their questions were not part of the Eliasson press briefing.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.