KIEV, July 09./ITAR-TASS/. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has called for including Russian representatives in its Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, the spokesman, Michael Bociurkiw said on Wednesday.

On May 15, Russia’s OSCE envoy, Andrei Kelin, said the OSCE should broaden its presence in Ukraine although the organization’s monitoring mission there is subjected to pressure from the current authorities in Kiev.

“We see sterilisation of the mission’s reports due to an extensive pressure on it (the mission) on behalf of the Kiev authorities and on behalf of those, who pitched them (the authorities) to power, namely the United States and the European Union,” Kelin said, adding that the mission “is in a very complicated situation.”

The diplomat said Russia continues supporting the OSCE monitors in Ukraine as it sees no other alternatives to the organisation’s mission.

“There is no other functioning international organization there (in Ukraine),” Kelin said. “If we remove the (OSCE) mission, who do we turn to then? It is impossible to turn to the illegal authorities in Kiev.”

Massive protests against the new Ukrainian authorities, who were propelled to power in Kiev as a result of a coup in February, erupted in the country’s Russian-speaking south-eastern territories after Crimea’s merger with Russia on March 18.

South-eastern Ukrainian protesters, who seek the country’s federalization and demand broader powers for their regions, have seized some of the government buildings in the region.

The Kiev authorities launched the so-called “antiterrorism operation” in eastern Ukraine. Russia, which does not recognize the de facto Ukrainian leaders, had condemned the operation, apparently aimed to crack down on Ukrainian federalisation supporters.