The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has emphasized the unacceptability of any steps jeopardizing the safety of, or restricting the monitoring by members of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the ministry's spokesperson said.

"The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry strongly condemns the act of vandalism that occurred in Donetsk in the early hours of August 9, 2015, in which OSCE SMM vehicles were damaged and destroyed," the spokesperson said.

The ministry sees this act as yet another attempt to intimidate the international monitors and force the OSCE SMM to stop recording instances of violation of the Minsk agreements.

"In view of this, we note the unacceptability of any steps jeopardizing the safety of, or limiting the activity by the monitors. We are calling on all signatories to the Minsk agreements to respect the mandate of the OSCE SMM and ensure their free and uninhibited access to the entire territory of the certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including all sections of the Russian-Ukrainian border," the ministry said.

The OSCE SMM, which was deployed on the basis of a consensus by all 57 OSCE member states, is playing a key role in the framework of the Minsk agreements by monitoring and verifying the ceasefire and weaponry removal, the ministry said.