You're reading: Donetsk People’s Republic firing at Ukrainian army positions in Shyrokyne on April 24 jeopardizing peace process – OSCE mission deputy head

Deputy Head of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the OSCE in Ukraine Alexander Hug has said there was artillery fire in the area of the village of Shyrokyne, Donetsk Oblast, on April 2 and that most of it had come from territory controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic and targeted Ukrainian army positions.

Around 5 p.m. the attacks subsided, Hug said at a briefing in Mariupol. He said the SMM continued to monitor the situation in Shyrokyne.

He also said that militants abused the monitors’ presence in Shyrokyne. He said they were taking advantage of it to rotate their forces, and that that was unacceptable.

“Ongoing fire, restrictions on the monitors, and abuse of our presence endanger the entire process,” he said.

Hug also said militants of denied the monitors access to the eastern part of Shyrokyne on April 23. He said militants had claimed that there were mined areas in that part of the village. However, the monitors saw militants walking and driving cars through those areas, Hug said.

After negotiations, the militants agreed to let two monitors into the eastern part of Shyrokyne. However, Hug stressed, freedom of access to any territory is part of the monitors’ mandate and this freedom is not up for discussion. If the team consists of eight people, all eight must be given [full] access to any area, he said.