The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine notes that the Lohvynove community in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has been completely destroyed and abandoned.
“The SMM, accompanied by a Russian Federation Armed Forces officer at the JCCC and escorted by an armed DPR member, visited DPR-controlled Lohvynove [56km northeast of Donetsk] near Debaltseve. Outside of the village, the SMM heard one burst of heavy machine gun [HMG] fire at a location 2-3km from its position,” the OSCE SMM report for Sept. 15.
“The SMM observed that the village has been completely destroyed and abandoned. The Russian Federation Armed Forces officer at the JCCC present told the SMM that the village had become uninhabitable after it had been heavily damaged by severe fighting activities in February this year,” the report says.
“In Debaltseve, the SMM met the ‘mayor’, who stated that the city’s population was approximately 17,000 with a large number of armed DPR members stationed there. He claimed that the city administration had received construction materials for repair of 501 residential and commercial buildings destroyed in the conflict, as humanitarian aid from the Russian Federation,” the report says.
