The special monitoring mission (SMM) of the OSCE continues its activities in the part of the Luhansk region not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, despite the termination of work in occupied Donetsk, the Dom TV channel has reported with reference to the OSCE press service.
The OSCE SMM press service said that due to the protest in front of the hotel where the Mission members live in non-government-controlled Donetsk, the SMM is unable to send any patrol from it to carry out its assigned tasks. They added that patrolling in non-government-controlled areas in the Luhansk region continues in accordance with the Mission’s mandate.
It is noted that the organization called on the parties to remove any obstacles to the freedom of movement of observers. They also recalled that the OSCE SMM in Ukraine, acting in accordance with the principles of impartiality and transparency, was instructed to establish facts and inform about them.
The mission does not provide assessments, at the same time all relevant observations are included in the SMM reports available to the general public on the OSCE website, the press service said.
