Small-arms fire hit OSCE vehicle in Marinka, Ukraine.

OSCE vehicle after it was attacked by DPR sniper near Donetsk. Photo credits: OSCE SMM.

On 16 January an OSCE SMM patrol comprised of three monitors, one paramedic and one language assistant was shot while conducting an assessment of the damages to a gas pipeline in the vicinity of government-controlled Marinka (23km south-west of Donetsk) in Ukraine – some 1.5km from the contact line. At the moment the shots were heard, one monitor and one language assistant were inside the damaged vehicle and one monitor was outside the vehicle in a distance of about 1-2m. There were no injuries.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) informed both Ukrainian and Russian representatives at the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) about the incident asking them to take follow-up actions.

The Chief Monitor of the SMM, Ertugrul Apakan, condemned the incident and issued the following statement:

“We received the news that SMM monitors who were facilitating the restoration of critical infrastructure near Marinka, just south-west of Donetsk city, were exposed to small-arms fire. The incident comes just nine days after their colleagues in non-government-controlled Horlivka were removed from their vehicles and forced to the ground at gunpoint.

“Given that these monitors are unarmed; that they have come to Ukraine with the aim of the normalization and stabilization of the security situation; and, that essentially they are peace-makers; these incidents – and others before them – are entirely unacceptable.

“Every day, SMM monitors are tasked to verify the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the security zone, the centrepiece of the Minsk agreements. Ensuring and guaranteeing the security and safety of SMM monitors is therefore not only a matter of the well-being of those monitors. It is also a prerequisite for peace in the interest of all segments of people in the country.

“If monitors are unable to perform their duties, there can be no security and there can be no stabilization.  The process for achieving normalization demands that SMM monitors’ security be respected, that they be guaranteed safe access and freedom-of-movement throughout the country, and that all sides respect the mandate under which they operate.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine strongly condemned the shooting at the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) vehicle by Russia-backed militants.

Ukraine regard this case as a blatant attempt to intimidate the OSCE SMM observers and yet another evidence of the deliberate violations by Russia and its proxies of their obligations under the Minsk agreements.

Ukraine demand to stop provocations against the OSCE observers, servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and civilians, as well as to ensure the SMM security and its unhindered access to the whole territory of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including the uncontrolled by Ukraine sections of the Ukraine-Russia border.