The monitors are hampered in having access to the territories near the Ukrainian-Russian border in the part of Donbas that is uncontrolled by the Ukrainian authorities, Deputy Chief Monitor of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission, Alexander Hug, said.

There are some difficulties with access to the sections near the state border, which are uncontrolled by the Ukrainian government, he said, during a Skype conference in Kyiv on Friday. Hug noted that the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) frequently stops mission patrols, and informs someone by phone before letting them go.

Hug said that this access did not allow the paying of unannounced visits and hampered the overall monitoring.