OSCE confirms formation of joint working group to investigate Donbas bus attack
DONETSK. Jan 14 (Interfax) - The deputy chief of the special monitoring mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE SMM) in eastern Ukraine, Alexander Hug, has confirmed the creation of a joint body that will investigate the shelling of a passenger bus near Volnovakha.
The SMM has proposed the concerned parties set up a joint body that will include representatives from the joint center for control and coordination from Ukraine, Russia and the Donetsk people's republic, who will conduct a joint independent inquiry into the incident, he said at a briefing in Donetsk on Wednesday.
Interfax learned about the group earlier from a source in the DPR government.
The news of the bus attack near Volnovakha was broken yesterday by the Donetsk regional administration. According to the latest reports, 12 people have been killed and another 18 injured. The Ukrainian forces and militias have blamed each other for the tragedy.
Hug said the inquiry will be parallel to the criminal investigation launched by the Ukrainian government.
The SMM will be monitoring the independent inquiry and report its results, he said.
The SMM will support and monitor this joint inquiry into the Volnovakha incident, Hug said.
OSCE monitors have visited both the scene of the tragedy and the victims in hospitals, he said
Overall, the security situation in eastern Ukraine has gotten worse recently, Hug said.
Over the past ten days the SMM has received evidence that the security situation is getting worse, he said. There is a huge difference between the situation on the Luhansk side of the conflict zone and that of Donetsk, Hug said.
While Luhansk has been relatively quiet, in Donetsk we are seeing a concentration of some clashes, he said.
