U.N. Distances Itself from Guidance Urging Staff Not to Describe Russian Invasion as ‘War’

The United Nations on Tuesday denied a report that it has asked staff to avoid referring to the conflict in Ukraine as a “war” or “invasion.”

An email to staff from the director of the United Nations Regional Information Centre, obtained by the Irish Times, instructed U.N. staff to use “conflict” or “military offensive” instead of “war” or “invasion” when referring to the situation in Ukraine.

“Do NOT add the Ukrainian flag to personal or official social media accounts or websites,” the director added.

The message said U.N. staff are “international civil servants” who therefore “have a responsibility to be impartial.”

“There is a serious possibility of reputational risk that has been flagged by senior officials recently,” the email said.

However, the U.N.’s under secretary general for global communications, Melissa Fleming, said in a tweet: “No such official communication has gone out to global staff to refrain from using certain words.”

U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric also issued a statement in response to the report saying it is “simply not the case that staff have been instructed not to use words like ‘war’ and ‘invasion’ to describe the situation.”

He said the email did not signify an official policy and noted that a senior official tweeted on Monday using the phrase “Russia’s invasion.”

“All I can tell you is that no email went out to staff from NY to staff with these instructions. I don’t dispute the validity of that email but it can not be considered official policy to staff,” he told the Irish Times.

The email raised concerns over its similarity to Russia’s language policy around the war; Russian officials prefer to call the conflict a “special military operation.” Russia’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor, has ordered local news outlets to delete reporting using the words “assault,” “invasion,” or “declaration of war.” The regulator threatened to fine or block outlets that did not comply.