The incident of blowing up the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission vehicle on the territory of Luhansk region, which is not controlled by the Ukrainian government, confirms the attempts of the Russian Federation and its puppets to intimidate the observers of the mission. This is stated in the comments of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, published by the press service of the department.
"We are considering a serious incident that occurred on the territory controlled by Russian-backed illegal armed groups, as a confirmation of Moscow's attempts and its puppets to intimidate OSCE observers, to nullify the efforts of Ukraine and the SMM to stabilize the situation on the line of delimitation," the Foreign Ministry said.
The Office called on the Russian Federation to fulfill its obligations under the Minsk agreements and take all urgent measures to immediately stop provocations against OSCE observers and also guarantee their full security and unhindered access to the whole occupied area of the ORDO, including the temporarily uncontrolled Ukrainian-Russian border sectors.
Earlier Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Foreign Minister and current Head of OSCE, confirmed death of one member of Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and promised that those responsible will be held accountable. He wrote this on his Twitter page.
"Heartfelt condolences to family of victim and SMM team. Death of colleague is a shock to whole OSCE. Hope injured monitor will recover soon," he wrote.
