Despite attempts by Russian-led forces to hamper monitoring activities of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) involving the withdrawal of military equipment and weapons per the Minsk agreements, observers continue to report movements of large numbers of weapons to temporarily occupied areas of Donetsk region, the Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) has said.
“In areas near Antratsyt and Alchevsk in Donetsk region columns of trucks, not less than 15, were seen transporting weapons from the Dovzhansky border crossing on the Russian border. This is probably replenishment of weapons to Russian-backed forces in Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” the JCCC said on its Facebook page on June 21 evening.
OSCE SMM monitoring confirmed the deployment of 18 self-propelled howitzers to the southwest of Luhansk, and documented the presence of 32 tanks. Observers also confirmed that weapons were deployed in civilian areas near Novolaspa in Donetsk region and Pervomaisk in Luhansk region (three armored personnel carriers and five armored vehicles).
