Nine civilians were injured in the combat zone in eastern Ukraine over the past week, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said.
Hug said at a press briefing in Kyiv on June 1 that the OSCE SMM had confirmed nine civilians were injured in the hostilities, namely six women and three men. Five of them were injured in the territories outside the Ukrainian authorities’ control in Yakovlivka, Oleksandrivka, Horlivka and Donetsk; four of them were injured in Avdiyivka and Krasnohorivka, he said.
The parties to the conflict are doing nothing in terms of demining efforts, he said. It is mostly civilians who suffer in explosions of mines and dud shells, Hug said.
He also highlighted the restrictions, threats and risks, which mission monitors encounter daily.
The OSCE SMM monitors have recorded 34 instances of limitation of the freedom of movement for their patrols last week, he said, adding that 20 incidents have taken place near the disengagement sections or directly in them.
The parties pledged to dispose of mines or munitions in these sections, but they have broken their pledge, Hug said. The patrols have no complete access to these sections, he said, adding that the other 14 incidents have occurred in sections outside Kyiv’s control.
The mission currently numbers 653 monitors, including 573 who are working in eastern Ukraine, Hug said.
