Ertugrul Apakan, the chief monitor of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, is dismayed by two instances of violence that jeopardized the SMM and prevented it from efficiently monitoring the situation in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.
An SMM patrol came under small-arms fire during a foot patrol in Avdiyivka-Yasynuvate area in Donetsk region on May 27; none of the patrol members was injured. Also today, the SMM’s long-range unmanned aerial vehicle was downed while flying near ‘DPR’-controlled Horlivka,” the OSCE said in a press release available on its website.
“I strongly condemn violence against our people and assets, serving to provide objective and impartial information on the situation in Ukraine. The SMM’s freedom of movement is guaranteed by its mandate and reiterated by the Minsk Package of Measures, and interference with the work of the Mission constitutes a gross violation of both,” Apakan said.
He also called on the parties to address both incidents and hold those responsible to account.
“This violence against the SMM is unacceptable. Impunity for people who threaten, violently mistreat or attack the SMM, or who violate its freedom of movement, must end,” he said.
