Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the Special Monitoring Mission of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE SMM) Alexander Hug has identified three sectors in Donbas where additional contact-line checkpoints can be opened.

They are an area in Zolote, a bridge in Schastia, and a point on the Pervomaisk-Popasna highway, Hug told reporters at a briefing in Luhansk on Wednesday.

A pedestrian bridge used by civilians to cross the contact line near a checkpoint in Stanytsia Luhanska is still in need of repair, he said.

The sides should repair this bridge for civilians; if this is impossible, they should consider opening alternative checkpoints, Hug said.

The situation with respect to mines and unexploded munitions near the contact line is becoming tenser, he said.

The OSCE mission is still recording new minefields and preparations to plant new mines on both sides of the contact line, Hug said. OSCE SMM monitors have also documented the impact that mines are having on civilians, he said.

Two civilians died in mine explosions in the area of Zolote-4 on October 18, Hug said.

All of this is happening because the opposing sides are failing to do what they have promised, he said.