UNITED NATIONS — Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Gleb Desyatnikov of the Russian Federation as Assistant Secretary-General for Mine Action and Police in the Department of Peace Operations, the United Nations announced on October 27 — a decision Ukraine publicly condemned two days later.

Source: United Nations press release SG/A/2446

Desyatnikov will head the Office for Mine Action and Police, which provides leadership and operational oversight for the United Nations Police Division and the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in peacekeeping missions and other field operations around the world.

The UN said Desyatnikov brings more than 35 years of experience in international relations, political affairs and security. He has served as Russia's ambassador to Jordan since 2018, was deputy director of the Foreign Ministry's Middle East and North Africa Department from 2010 to 2018, and earlier served at Russia's UN mission in New York and on seconded deployments with the UN Special Commission on Iraq between 1994 and 1997. He holds a master's degree in international relations from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and speaks English and Arabic in addition to Russian.

Source: United Nations press release SG/A/2446

Ukraine: 'Moscow has mined the United Nations'

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi attacked the appointment on X on October 29. “Moscow has mined the United Nations,” he wrote. “Entrusting this responsibility to a representative of the aggressor state is deeply troubling and undermines trust in the United Nations.”

Source: Ukrainska Pravda via EuropeSays

The criticism reflects the scale of the problem the new office-holder will oversee. Ukraine is one of the most mine-contaminated countries in the world after Russia's full-scale invasion. In southern Kherson region alone, demining teams have neutralised 300,691 explosive devices on the Ukrainian-controlled right bank of the Dnipro since clearance operations began, the regional military administration reported on October 29. Between October 22 and 28, specialists surveyed 602.8 hectares and neutralised 471 explosive devices, and 74.5 per cent of the territory designated for clearance on the right bank has now been cleared.

Source: Kherson regional military administration via EuropeSays

The UN announcement did not respond to the Ukrainian criticism. The appointment was made under the UN80 initiative, which created the combined mine action and police office to strengthen mandate delivery across peace operations.

What is solid

  • UN Secretary-General António Guterres appointed Russian diplomat Gleb Desyatnikov as Assistant Secretary-General for Mine Action and Police on October 27 (UN press release SG/A/2446).
  • Desyatnikov has been Russia's ambassador to Jordan since 2018 and has more than 35 years of diplomatic and security experience (UN).
  • Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi condemned the appointment on October 29, saying it undermines trust in the UN (statement on X, reported by Ukrainska Pravda).
  • Kherson region demining teams have neutralised 300,691 explosive devices on the right bank, with 74.5 per cent of designated territory cleared (regional military administration).

What is only claimed

  • Ukraine characterises the appointment as entrusting mine action to 'a representative of the aggressor state'; the UN presents it as a senior appointment based on Desyatnikov's experience and has not publicly answered the criticism.