The U.S.-based Foreign Policy ezine that on October 25, 2018 published an interview with outgoing Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine Alexander Hug has removed a portion of the interview in which Hug said the OSCE's mission did not detect evidence of Russian interference in Donbas. The ezine published a correction.

"Correction: …Hug stated that OSCE had not seen direct evidence of Russian involvement in eastern Ukraine. We have removed this remark, as it did not convey his intended view. He goes on to cite facts and observations that his monitors have recorded," the ezine said.

As earlier reported, Hug said in the interview with the Foreign Policy that the OSCE SMM observers saw people with identification marks of the Russian Federation in Donbas, adding, "But you can buy this jacket anywhere."

First Deputy Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament and Ukraine's envoy to the Trilateral Contact Group's humanitarian subgroup Iryna Gerashchenko expressed her regrets about Hug's comments, saying that she hoped it "was [Hug's] failure to formulate a phrase, not a position." She said OSCE SMM weekly records the presence of Russian equipment and weapons in its official reports.

Hug leaves his post on October 31, 2018.