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Diplomat says OSCE monitors turn blind eye on Ukrainian tanks in Donbass

Earlier, the spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic’s operative command addressed the OSCE leadership on behalf of the Donetsk Defense Ministry
Ukrainian tanks stand in the yard of an apartment block in Avdeyevka, eastern Ukraine AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
Ukrainian tanks stand in the yard of an apartment block in Avdeyevka, eastern Ukraine
© AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka

MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has drawn the OSCE Special Monitoring Missions’ attention to the emergence of Ukrainian armor in Avdeyevka.

Zakharova posted a commentary on her Facebook under a photo of two Ukrainian tanks in a residential area and the OSCE monitors’ vehicles parked nearby. The photograph was contributed by local residents.

"Some people’s job is to turn a blind eye on tanks," Zakharova said.

Earlier, the spokesman for the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic’s operative command, Eduard Basurin, addressed the OSCE leadership on behalf of the Donetsk Defense Ministry.

"In view of the exposed gross violation of the mission’s mandate we are asking the OSCE SMM leadership under Sebastian Kurz to conduct a thorough inquiry and to make their subordinates provide an impartial coverage of the situation in Donbass and to rule out the concealment of war crimes by the Kiev authorities against civilians," he said.

"At a time when the first deputy head of the OSCE SMM in Ukraine Alexander Hughes has been trying to achieve ceasefire, his subordinates in the territory controlled by Kiev’s forces connive with neo-Nazis, who carry out artillery and tank strikes on homes in Donetsk, Makeyevka and Yasinovataya," Basurin said. "We have an impression that some OSCE officials contribute to the worsening of the situation by informing the Ukrainian forces when they should deal strikes to hit life support infrastructures in Donbass, and when to attack repair teams that are trying to eliminate disruptions in electric, gas and water supply for large cities."

In accordance with the package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk Accords, all weapons having a caliber of 100 mm and more should be pulled back to points located 50 kilometers away from each other, multiple rocket launchers to areas 70 kilometers away, and multiple rocket launchers Tornado-S, Uragan and Smerch and Tochka missiles, to positions 140 kilometers away. Under an addendum to the package of measures all artillery pieces having a caliber of under 100 mm, tanks and mortars, including 120-mm mortars, are to be pulled back, too.