All news

OSCE Special Monitoring Mission says it did not observe kidnapping of LPR observer

Meanwhile, the Mission noted that it is ready to participate in resolving the issue

KIEV, October 16. /TASS/. The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) did not observe kidnapping of Andrei Kosyak, an observer from the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) in the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC), by the Ukrainian military, but it is ready to facilitate the dialogue between the sides, the Mission said in a statement posted on its website on Saturday.

"The SMM did not observe the event directly. It received information from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and from the armed formations only after it had occurred," the statement said.

Meanwhile, the Mission noted that it is ready to participate in resolving the issue. "The SMM stands ready to facilitate the dialogue on the ground between the sides should they wish to seek such facilitation, and this readiness has already been communicated to the sides," it said.

The Mission is "closely following" the recent developments related to the incident with Kosyak "in the disengagement area near Zolote on 13 October," according to the statement. "On that day, the SMM patrols were present on both sides of the contact line near the disengagement area where they were monitoring adherence to a localized ceasefire to enable vegetation clearance along the road that traverses the area. All relevant observations concerning this activity were duly reflected in SMM Daily Report of 14 October 2021," the statement said.

On October 13, a Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance group abducted Andrei Kosyak, LPR representative in the JCCC, in the disengagement zone. The LPR demanded that Kiev immediately released its representative in the JCCC, however, the Ukrainian side postponed the transfer of the captured officer several times, eventually sabotaging it.