OSCE monitors led by Hug to travel along highway to Debaltseve
KYIV. July 17 (Interfax) - A group of monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (OSCE SMM), led by Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug, will travel along the M-03 highway from Svitlodarsk to Debaltseve on Monday.
"Today Hug & other #OSCE monitors 2 use M03 road (#Svitlodarsk-#Debaltseve). Roads are 4 civilians. SMM freedom of movement must be respected," the mission said on Twitter on Monday.
The so-called Svitlodarsk Bulge is a section of the line of contact between the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the militia near the border between the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, about 20 kilometers away from Debaltseve, Horlivka, and Vuhlehirsk. Representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) have repeatedly accused Ukraine of armed provocations on this section. Kyiv, for its part, has accused the militia of shelling.