You're reading: Apakan says militants threaten OSCE SMM monitors with weapons and seize their UAV

Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (OSCE SMM) Ertugrul Apakan said that members of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic threatened the SMM observers with weapons and seized the mission’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

“The incident occurred at around 14:30 on February 24 in DPR-controlled Yasynuvata, north of Donetsk city. An SMM patrol was attempting to launch a UAV, intending to monitor the alleged shelling of the Donetsk water filtration station, when armed men pointed their weapons at them, advanced towards them and seized the UAV, after which one of the men opened fire which impacted close to the SMM patrol, the press service of the OSCE SMM reported quoting the chief monitor.

“Firing at unarmed civilian monitors is not only a direct threat to the lives of brave men and women doing their best to bring peace to Ukraine, it is a direct challenge to the collective will of the 57 OSCE participating States, and to the Minsk agreements,” Apakan said.

The OSCE SMM chief insisted that those responsible be held accountable and that there should be no impunity for these acts.

“Threatening SMM monitors and otherwise impeding the work of the SMM serves only to delay resolution of the conflict,” he said.