OSCE SMM faces new impediments to its activity in Donbas
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OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) reported new cases of restrictions to its freedom of movement and other impediments to the fulfilment of its mandate in the combat area in the Donbas and along the administrative border with Crimea.
Censor.NET reports citing the latest update from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine based on information obtained as of 7:30 p.m. Aug. 17, 2016.
The report reads: "While driving from "LPR"-controlled Khriashchivka (22km east of Luhansk) to "LPR"-controlled Pionerske (19km east of Luhansk), the SMM was stopped by an armed man who told the SMM to turn around and drive back in the direction they had come from (the JCCC was not informed). The SMM turned around and drove back.
"At a railway station in "LPR"-controlled Voznesenivka the SMM was asked by "LPR" members to leave the area. The SMM left the area and informed the JCCC.
"At the "DPR"-controlled Marynivka border crossing point, armed men demanded that SMM patrol members present their national passports before entering what they referred to as the "customs" area. Patrol members did not present their passports and the SMM was not allowed to enter the said area, even though the Mission was accompanied by a Russian Federation Armed Forces officer from the JCCC.
"A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer refused the SMM access to positions on Chonhar peninsula in Kherson region (southern Ukraine). The SMM turned back," the monitors reported.
The report reads: "While driving from "LPR"-controlled Khriashchivka (22km east of Luhansk) to "LPR"-controlled Pionerske (19km east of Luhansk), the SMM was stopped by an armed man who told the SMM to turn around and drive back in the direction they had come from (the JCCC was not informed). The SMM turned around and drove back.
"At a railway station in "LPR"-controlled Voznesenivka the SMM was asked by "LPR" members to leave the area. The SMM left the area and informed the JCCC.
"At the "DPR"-controlled Marynivka border crossing point, armed men demanded that SMM patrol members present their national passports before entering what they referred to as the "customs" area. Patrol members did not present their passports and the SMM was not allowed to enter the said area, even though the Mission was accompanied by a Russian Federation Armed Forces officer from the JCCC.
"A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer refused the SMM access to positions on Chonhar peninsula in Kherson region (southern Ukraine). The SMM turned back," the monitors reported.
