Alexander Hug, deputy head of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE SMM), has warned that the holding of a V-day parade of military equipment in Donetsk, on May 9, will be considered a breach of the Minsk agreement.
Speaking at a briefing in Kyiv, on April 21, he recalled that the OSCE SMM regularly reports instances of violation by the parties of the provision to remove heavy weaponry, and military equipment from the contact line, and will continue doing so if it observers such violations.
The OSCE SMM deputy chief also said that local residents complain to monitors all the time about landmines on the main roads in the region, which significantly hampers people’s movements and jeopardizes their safety.
It was reported that, on April 20, the Ukrainian side in the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk warned representatives of the breakaway parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions that the parading of military equipment in Donetsk, on May 9, will constitute direct and gross violation of the Minsk agreements.
Last Wednesday, the leader of the self-proclaimed Donetsk people’s republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, told reporters that the V-Day parade in Donetsk, on May 9, will involve the DPR’s and WWII-era military equipment.
