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Russian Defense Ministry slams expulsion of JCCC officer from Ukraine

Colonel Vladimir Cheban was expelled from Ukraine for alleged transfer of monthly schedules and flight routes of UAVs of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to the Donetsk republic
Russian Defense Ministry Sergei Karpov/ITAR-TASS
Russian Defense Ministry
© Sergei Karpov/ITAR-TASS

MOSCOW, June 24. /TASS/. The Russian Defense Ministry believes the expulsion of Russian representative at the Joint Center for Ceasefire Control and Coordination (JCCC) Vladimir Cheban is an attempt to disrupt the existing agreements, the ministry’s press service has told reporters.

"We consider the provocative actions of the Ukrainian intelligence services against member of the Russian delegation at the JCCC Colonel Vladimir Cheban to be another attempt to disrupt the existing agreements and a desire to present the Russian military as a party to the civil conflict in Ukraine against the backdrop of a debate on extending anti-Russian sanctions in Europe," the ministry said in a statement obtained by TASS on Friday.

The press service of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said earlier this week that Colonel Vladimir Cheban had been expelled from Ukraine "for actions running counter to national security interests and the Minsk accords", in particular, alleged "transfer of monthly schedules and flight routes of unmanned aerial vehicles of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to the Donetsk republic." The Russian officer is denied entry to Ukraine for a period of five years.