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OSCE notes movement of Ukrainian forces in buffer zone

The Ukrainian military have advanced to the "grey zone" and hoisted the Ukrainian flag on their positions

© Mikhail Sokolov/TASS

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Deputy head of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Alexander Hug has said that any movement of troops of the parties to the conflict in the Donbass region to the adjacent territory will be regarded as a violation of the Minsk accords.

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Hug who is currently in the area of the city of Avdeevka, Donetsk region, noted that any movement of the positions forward would be a violation of the Minsk agreements. Head of the Russian side at the Joint Center for Ceasefire Control and Coordination (JCCC) Major-General Rustam Muradov is holding an inspection in the area as well.

According to Muradov, he noted while talking with Hug that the Ukrainian military had advanced to the "grey zone" and hoisted the Ukrainian flag on their positions. Hug put this on record.

Hug emphasized that the OSCE monitoring mission had registered the change in the positions of the Ukrainian army near Avdeevka. According to him, members of the monitoring mission saw a small amount of Ukrainian troops coming close to the demarcation line. He added that such movement was reminiscent of developments in the city of Debaltsevo.

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