Brussels - The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said in a report on Aug. 6 that "the Russian authorities have been very supportive in assisting the Observer Mission (OM) to establish its mission base and fulfill its mandate on observing activities and movements at the two border checkpoints."
“The OM is in constant contact with the Border Guard and the regional
administration authorities,” the organization said in its report, which
spans the period from July 30 to Aug. 5.
The authors of the document also said that at the Gukovo border
checkpoint, “the OM observed several shells falling in the territory of
the Russian Federation (two on Saturday, Aug. 2, and two on Monday,
Aug. 4, early morning), two of which fell directly on the Gukovo
border checkpoint, causing minor damage.”
“The Observer Mission was not able to confirm who was responsible for the shelling,” the report says.
At the Donetsk border checkpoint, “on the two first days of its
observation (July 31 and Aug. 1), the OM observed several groups of
ten to twelve young men in military-style dress with backpacks going to
Ukraine from the Russian Federation and coming from Ukraine. In some
instances, some of the young men coming back from Ukraine were visibly
lightly wounded and on two occasions the OM observed a flag of the
so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic” on some young men’s clothes. The
OM did not observe any weapons. After August 1 the OM has not seen such
groups,” according to the report.
“The OM also witnessed regular evacuations in ambulances of wounded
civilians, Ukrainian servicemen and separatists, to hospitals in the
region through both Gukovo and Donetsk border checkpoints,” it says.
The OSCE Observation Mission will work together with Russian border
guards and personnel of Russia’s Southern Customs Department on the
Russian-Ukrainian border for three months to verify the legality of
cargo, transport vehicles and people passing through the Gukovo and
Donetsk border checkpoints.
