Members of the self-proclaimed republics in Donbas, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), are preventing OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) monitors from visiting designated permanent storage sites for the weapons withdrawn from the contact line in Donbas.

"In Donetsk region, the SMM monitored the withdrawal of tanks, artillery pieces up to 100mm in caliber, mortars up to/including 120mm in caliber. Unfortunately, in one case, in the area outside government control in Donetsk region, site guards denied OSCE monitors access to designated permanent storage sites," OSCE SMM Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said at a briefing in Kyiv on Thursday.

The OSCE SMM was also prevented from monitoring the withdrawal of heavy weapons in Donetsk region in areas outside the Ukrainian government's control, he said.

In his words, this constitutes a violation of the provisions of the additional protocol of the Minsk agreements.

"They do not let us visit the sites – we cannot carry out verification," he explained.

"The LPR has consistently failed to allow effective OSCE SMM verification of the withdrawal of weapons from contact line in Luhansk region," he said.

He added that LPR militants are preventing OSCE monitors from verifying the serial numbers of their weapons.