The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) says its monitoring activities in Donbas are "restricted by third parties and by security considerations."
“The SMM is restrained in fulfilling its monitoring functions by restrictions imposed by third parties and security considerations including the lack of information on whereabouts of landmines,” the OSCE SMM said in a report released on April 17.
“The security situation in Donbas is fluid and unpredictable and the ceasefire does not hold everywhere. For this reason, the SMM requires security guarantees from the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR, respectively) which are not always provided,” the report says.
The OSCE SMM also said it has registered fighting at the Donetsk airport and in the adjacent populated areas.
“Fighting continued in and around Donetsk airport and around neighboring villages, namely government-controlled Pisky and Opytne, and DPR-controlled Spartak [all 15-20km north-west of Donetsk city-centre], with 269 SMM recorded instances of the use of heavy weapons, including heavy mortars, heavy artillery and tanks. This, however, represents a reduced intensity in comparison to previous days,” the report says.
