The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has denied reports alleging that its forward patrol base in Popasna, the Luhansk region, had been shelled.
“In response to an inaccurate report published by the press center of the ATO (Anti-Terrorist operation) staff, we report the following: the OSCE SMM forward patrol base deployed in the city of Popasna did not come under fire and did not sustain any damage. All mission employees are in safety,” the OSCE SMM said on Facebook on Friday.
The mission acknowledged that its monitors had recorded intensive firing in that area late on June 29 and early on June 30, but all of them were safe at their forward patrol base. “Later on June 30, employees traveled to Severodonetsk to comprehensively discuss the security situation. The mission monitors are expected to return to Popasna today,” it said.
The press center of the Ukrainian ATO in Donbas reported on Friday morning, with reference to the Ukrainian delegation to the Joint Coordination and Control Center (JCCC), that OSCE SMM employees had to evacuate their field office in Popasna after coming under fire by illegal armed groups.
