OSCE mission reports deterioration of security situation in Donbas

Published March 10, 2017 at 4:08 pm

Members of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine take pictures of a destroyed house in eastern city of Avdiyivka after heavy shelling by Russian-backed separatists on Feb. 25.

Photo by AFP

The number of instances of the use of heavy weapons in Donbas went up 230 percent over a period of one week, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said.

The security situation deteriorated last week and the number of situations involving the use of heavy weapons, specifically, tanks, mortars, and artillery, including multiple rocket launchers, went up 230 percent, Hug said at a news briefing in Kyiv on March 10.

Some 400 instances of the use of multiple rocket launchers cause the SMM’s special concerns, Hug said.