OSCE sees instability in Shyrokyne

12:30, 09.12.2015 1 min read

OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug has described the situation in Shyrokyne, a town squeezed between positions of the militia and the Ukrainian army, as unstable and unfit to live in.

Mission observers who visited the Shyrokyne area were told about the injury of a DPR representative and concluded that security was shaky in Shyrokyne, Hug told reporters on Wednesday.

There is a large quantity of dud munitions and mines in the town which make it unfit to live in, he said.

Shyrokyne residents have moved to Novoazovsk, controlled by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, and Ukraine-controlled Mariupol, he said.

The conflicting sides need to sign an agreement so that civilians can return to Shyrokyne, and the monitors are staying there to promote the achievement of this understanding, Hug said.

Confidence between the sides is low but the attempt to install cameras in Shyrokyne will give the sides more information about local events and will eventually build trust, he said.