A patrol from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine was forced to withdraw due to safety concerns after shots were fired near it by a Russian-backed fighter in Luhansk Oblast.
The incident happened at around noon on March 24, near the village of Znamianka, some 36 kilometers north-west of the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk. The area is under the control of Russian-backed forces.
The OSCE patrol of four persons in two armored vehicles had stopped at an abandoned bus stop about 800 meters west of the Russian-occupied village to monitor the ceasefire, when it heard eight single shots of small-arms fire approximately 1 kilometer south, an OSCE report on the incident reads.
The patrol was then approached by three men in combat gear, one of whom was recognized by a monitor as a member of a Russian-backed fighter from Luhansk, the report goes on.
A second man was armed with an AK-47 assault rifle. The patrol informed the men about their intention to monitor the ceasefire in the area. Less than a minute later, the patrol heard the third man, who was about 20 meters away, cock a pistol and fire into the air, and shout in Russian ““Get out of here quickly! Mortar fire!”
The patrol said it did not see or hear any mortar fire. The patrol members returned to their vehicles an departed the area due to security concerns. There were no injuries to patrol members and their vehicles were not damaged.
The OSCE said the Special Monitoring Mission had informed the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination, a liaison group between the Ukrainian and Russian militaries, about the incident.
The OSCE’s monitoring mission in Ukraine regularly reports interference in its work in Ukraine. The organization is mandated under the Minsk peace accords to monitor the proposed ceasefire and withdrawal of heavy weapons from front-line areas.
The mission has had remote-controlled observation cameras stolen and destroyed by Russian-backed forces, who have also jammed or downed with small-arms fire several of the mission’s unmanned aerial vehicles.
The mission’s patrols are regularly prevented from accessing areas – in the majority of cases by Russian-backed forces.
There have also been several cases of patrol members having shots fired at, or near them. The last such case occurred on Feb. 12 in the village of Pikuza, which is controlled by Russian-backed forces from Donetsk Oblast.
In that incident, after the patrol discovered a concealed tank in an area prohibited under the Minsk peace accords, around 15-20 warning shots were fired by Russian-backed fighters, and the patrol was forced to withdraw from the area.
