The leadership of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic is considering the possibility of swapping OSCE monitors detained near Donetsk several days ago for its supporters, the Donetsk People's Republic self-defense headquarters told Interfax.
“Various options are being considered, including an option of their exchange for our associates. No decision has yet been made,” a headquarters spokesperson said.
The OSCE monitors are still staying on a territory controlled by the local self-defense forces, he said.
Vyacheslav Ponomar is known as the ‘people’s mayor’ of Slovyansk in the Donetsk region had told Interfax on May 29 that his men were holding a group of four OSCE monitors that had gone missing south of Donetsk 2 days before.
The OSCE announced earlier that it had lost communication with one of its Monitoring Mission teams working in the Donetsk region. The mission said the team included four people, who were nationals of Estonia, Switzerland, Turkey, and Denmark.
