Ukrainian bullets narrowly miss OSCE monitors
KYIV. May 11 (Interfax) - No one was injured when a Ukrainian serviceman fired warning shots at a motor vehicle carrying members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's special monitoring mission on Sunday, the Special Monitoring Mission said in a report as of 7:30 p.m. May 10, released on Monday.
The incident occurred outside the town of Krymske. OSCE monitors left the motor vehicle to observe gunfire attacks underway nearby, the report says. When the OSCE team got into the motor vehicle again, three to five bursts were fired with an upgraded Kalashnikov automatic rifle at a distance of about two meters. No one was hurt. The OSCE monitors left the zone, according to the report.
The fire was coming 200 meters southeast of the scene, the monitoring mission said.
A local Ukrainian commander later informed the mission that the fire was accidental. "Soldiers had not been informed about the mission's arrival," he said. The commander added that the soldier was nervous and attempted to fire warning shots.
The Ukrainian commander also apologized for the incident and pledged full safety to the Monitoring Mission, the report says.