11:27 28.04.2015

OSCE SMM says current shelling in Shyrokyne is most intense since mid-February

2 min read
OSCE SMM says current shelling in Shyrokyne is most intense since mid-February

On April 26, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) observed the most intense shelling in Shyrokyne (20 km east of Mariupol) since fighting began in the area in mid-February 2015.

"On April 25, the SMM visited Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) observing fresh damage to infrastructure. The SMM also tried to proceed to the eastern part of the village but was denied access by 'Donetsk People's Republic' ('DPR') members. The fighting continued throughout the presence of the SMM," reads the SMM report as of 19:30 on April 26, which was released on Monday.

While in Shyrokyne, the SMM heard outgoing and incoming fire for an extended period of time, most of which was outgoing small arms fire and 82-mm mortar fire.

The monitors said they also observed smoke rising above the southern part of the village.

"For the last 12 hours, and on-going at the time of this report, the SMM has observed sporadic to continuous exchanges of fire involving small arms, machine guns, rocket propelled grenades and automatic grenade launchers," the report said.

The SMM continued to observe ceasefire violations in and around the wider area of Donetsk airport as well as Avdiyivka, involving the use of 120-mm mortars and artillery.

In the Luhansk region the situation remained calm, with a small number of ceasefire violations observed by the SMM.

AD
AD
AD
AD
AD