OSCE SMM reports decrease in violence in Donbas

15:46, 05.05.2016 1 min read

The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the OSCE has said that the number of ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine decreased in the past week.

"If you look at our daily reports, you will know by now that there has been a considerable decrease in the level of violence in Donbas over the past week," Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE SMM Alexander Hug.

He said that this moment should be seized for adhering to commitments to withdraw the heavy weapons from the security zone, to demine the territory and restore infrastructure.

Hug also said that the free movement of monitors was obstructed by armed formations of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republic. "In areas not under government control, this has been particularly problematic," the deputy chief monitor said.

Increasingly, armed members of the so-called 'DPR' demanded to see passports of SMM monitors at checkpoints, he said.