Freitag, 29.03.2024 07:48 Uhr

OSCE and the situation in Eastern Ukraine

Verantwortlicher Autor: Carlo Marino Rome/Kyiv, 09.07.2021, 15:43 Uhr
Nachricht/Bericht: +++ Politik +++ Bericht 6623x gelesen

Rome/Kyiv [ENA] Eastern Ukraine with Donetsk oblast borders on Rostov region of Russia. In the south, it is washed by the Azov Sea. The region is extended for 255 km from north to south, 180 km from west to east. The distance from Donetsk to Kiev is 871 km by railway, and 693 km by roads. This region is rich in deposits of various mineral resources. The largest deposits of iron ore are located close to Mariupol city.

Donetsk oblast has large deposits of coal, its proven reserves are about 10 billion tons, including 5.7 billion tons of coke coal. In April 2014, as a result of the political crisis in Ukraine, the Donetsk People’s Republic was proclaimed in the region. The territory of Donetsk oblast became a war zone between the armed forces of Ukraine and the people protecting the self-proclaimed republic. This conflict did not find a solution and the future of the region is unclear. Fighting has taken place in more locations along the contact line, and there has been a noticeable rise in the use of more lethal and destructive weapons, and with it greater damage to civilian infrastructure.

“The security situation in eastern Ukraine is not improving and challenges are becoming acute,” said Ambassador Y. Halit Çevik, the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, in his address to the OSCE Permanent Council yesterday. He underlined that ceasefire violations, hardship faced by civilians and restrictions to the Mission’s freedom of movement, especially the intense and continuous jamming of the Mission’s unmanned aerial vehicles, had become more severe.

“The Mission has observed a threefold increase in ceasefire violations since my last report,” said Çevik. The Chief Monitor also stressed that the deterioration of the security situation in two disengagement areas was particularly regrettable, as these were symbols of the sides’ commitments to peaceful resolution. Furthermore, Çevik drew the Council’s attention to the fact that 25 civilian casualties had been recorded by the SMM between 21 March and 6 June 2021. He added that nearly 75% of those casualties were due to mines, UXO and other explosive objects, noting that the sides needed “to make urgent progress on commitments related to mine action”.

The Chief Monitor reminded that the freedom of movement of civilians continued to be severely restricted across the contact line and called for the opening of all corresponding checkpoints, including those at the new crossing points at Zolote and Shchastia. The Chief Monitor underlined that 80% of the Mission’s long-range UAV flights have been affected by jamming, which had recently led to the crash of another aircraft. In closing, the SMM’s Chief Monitor called on the sides to return to a constructive approach, both on the ground and in the Working Group on Security Issues of Trilateral Contact Group, emphasizing that progress could be made only if they took ownership and rose to their responsibilities.

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