Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM) Alexander Hug reported that OSCE SMM patrols are facing restrictions on freedom of movement in Donbas.

The observers, who are working there under the direction of OSCE SMM team leader for Luhansk region Christophe Beney, frequently face restrictions on freedom of movement during work along the entire contact line, Hug told reporters on Thursday.

These restrictions often occur in those places where the observers have to cross the contact line and up until now the de facto government of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) has restricted exactly freedom of movement, he said.

Hug said he hopes that these hindrances will be removed, because the OSCE SMM compiles unbiased information about the situation on the contact line during patrolling.

The OSCE SMM also encounters restrictions on the mission's work in relation to technical issues. The OSCE SMM team experiences inability to use unmanned aerial vehicles and lost the unmanned aerial vehicles which were fired upon on both sides of the contact line. If the unmanned aerial vehicles are shot down, they will not be able to record the situation at these sites, he said.