OSCE official says DPR putting restrictions on monitors' work
KYIV. April 30 (Interfax) - The deputy head of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe claimed on Thursday that the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) had been putting restrictions on the mission's exercise of its mandate and using the mission as a shield for military personnel rotations.
Alexander Hug told a briefing in Kyiv that, over the past few days, DPR militiamen had prevented the mission from entering the village of Shyrokyne on at least three occasions. Hug said he had pointed out to a militia commander that this meant interfering with the mission's mandate.
Moreover, a militia force deployed in the Shyrokyne area had used the mission's presence as a shield for personnel rotation, Hug said. He said he had told the command of the force that this was "unacceptable."
One more problem were minefields, which limited the mission's freedom of movement, Hug said.
He said he had spent the past two weeks in eastern Ukraine.
Hug said that on some occasions the team had found itself in areas that came under fire, and that a week ago and last Monday the mission had heard remote sounds of fire.
He accused both the militia and the Ukrainian army of using weapons that were to have been withdrawn from the frontline the Minsk agreements.
He also said the population of Shyrokyne had shrunk to 40 from 1,300, and that the 40 people who stayed did not want to leave their property behind.
He said the village currently had no electricity or water supply, and that there were a lot of unexploded shells lying around.
Hug said the mission had asked both sides to avoid firing in the Shyrokyne area. There was a 72-hour ceasefire and people came out of their basements just to take a breath of air, he said.