OSCE observers record destruction of Ukrainian APCs, encirclement of checkpoints in Luhansk region
A Ukrainian military checkpoint 40 kilometers northwest of Luhansk has been surrounded by irregular armed personnel, and there are 12 reported casualties, two of whom have been confirmed by observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine.
"On the evening of October 13, a Ukrainian military officer told the SMM that armed forces affiliated to the 'Luhansk People's Republic' ('LPR') had advanced towards a Ukrainian military checkpoint (CP) between Khoroshe and Smile (approximately 40 kilometers northwest of Luhansk city), and had issued the Ukrainian soldiers there with an ultimatum: either surrender or face attack. Early in the morning of October 14, a Ukrainian military officer attached to the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) in Debaltseve (75 kilometers northeast of Donetsk city) told the SMM that fighting was ongoing around the CP in question," the OSCE SMM said in a report published on Wednesday.
Later, the report says, a Ukrainian military CP commander near Frunze (45 kilometers northwest of Luhansk) told the SMM that the CP between Khoroshe and Smile was surrounded by LPR irregular armed forces.
"He said that a relief convoy – consisting of three armored personnel carriers (APC) – had been ambushed by 'LPR' irregular forces 2.7 kilometers west of Smile, resulting in, he said, 12 Ukrainian military casualties – dead and wounded – and two burnt-out APCs remaining at the scene," reads the report.
Then, the mission said, following an unsuccessful Ukrainian military attempt to retrieve the dead and wounded – involving a tank and two APCs – the SMM approached the LPR irregulars, and obtained a promise that the injured would be evacuated by the LPR and provided with medical treatment.
"Whilst at the ambush site, the SMM observed two injured Ukrainian soldiers and four burnt-out APCs," reads the report.
According to the report, the SMM also observed fresh mortar impacts at the surrounded Ukrainian military CP, located one kilometer south of Smile.