Ukraine's First Deputy Parliament Speaker and representative of the Minsk Trilateral Contract Group's humanitarian subgroup Iryna Gerashchenko has said she will ask the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to provide information about Russian representatives included in the OSCE's Special Monitoring Mission in Donbas.

"We respectfully acknowledge the work of the OSCE's SMM and its important mission to restore peace in Donbas… But we will in the future closely monitor the composition of the SMM and promote the independence of [SMM] observers. Today my deputy colleagues and I are preparing an official request to the OSCE to provide official information about the monthly and yearly composition of the SMM group, starting with Russia. Even our diplomats don't have this information," Gerashchenko said on her Facebook page on Tuesday.

The MP said the issue had been raised previously at political and diplomatic meetings.

"When the mission started there were 20, and as of January 2017 there were 39. That means the number [of Russian citizens] doubled… And since January 2017 their number has decreased from 39 to 35, but not from 35 to 20," she said.

Gerashchenko said the OSCE mission to Donbas was comprised of 511 observers, but "during the 'hottest' days in 2015 the number significantly increased," something Ukraine is thankful for. Even though the majority of observers are from European Union countries, the U.S. and Canada, Gerashchenko said the number of Belarusian citizens in the OSCE's SMM increased from one to eight. Belarus is a Russian ally. Gerashchenko added that the number of Serbian monitors increased from one to nine.

"There were 16 citizens of Kyrgyzstan in the mission in January, and nine from countries from former Soviet republics," Gerashchenko said.

"Millions of Ukrainians ask the question why representatives of the aggressor state [Russia] are part of the mission. ...There are indeed observers from 44 countries, but with the exception of Russia, none of these countries attacked Ukraine, killed its citizens, took them hostage, stole our territory, factories and inflicted bodily harm on our citizens… Therefore, we will pay special attention to Russian citizens in the mission from now on," she said.

As earlier reported, Gerashchenko said on October 2 that the number of Russian representatives and representatives from countries allied with Russia increased significantly in the OSCE's SMM.

The OSCE's SMM the same day said the number of Russian observers decreased last year.

"OSCE SMM monitors are drawn from 44 OSCE participating States, one of which is the Russian Federation, which contributes 35 monitors (39 a year ago). The majority of SMM monitors come from European Union Member States (339 monitors). In addition, 373 Ukrainian staff work for the Mission," the OSCE's SMM said Monday on its Facebook page.