OSCE SMM sees crater probably caused by phosphorus mortar in Pisky – report
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) has recorded a crater probably caused by a phosphorus grenade near Pisky in Donetsk region but does not have sufficient evidence to prove that.
"The SMM, jointly with officers of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) travelled to Pisky (government-controlled, seven km north-west of Donetsk), where it met with the Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander of a unit located in the south-eastern part of Pisky, who informed that during shelling in the evening of 18 May two soldiers were wounded, one seriously. The SMM was then guided to a spot allegedly impacted by a white phosphorus mortar," a SMM report issued on Wednesday evening says.
"According to one of the soldiers, the shelling occurred around midnight on 18 May. The SMM noted a crater of less than one meter in diameter and 50 centimeters deep, and assessed it to be an impact of an 82-mm mortar. Although both representatives of the JCCC claimed incoming white phosphorus mortar grenades were observed, the SMM was not able to confirm their usage, based on available evidence and analysis at the scene," the report says.
The SMM also met with the Ukrainian and the Russian representatives on JCCC in Soledar (government-controlled, 77km north-north-east of Donetsk). The incident logs provided to the SMM by each party differed in attribution of responsibility, but both logs showed a total of 71 ceasefire violations.
Earlier JCCC reported that militants probably used phosphorus bombs when they shelled Pisky on Monday night.