MOSCOW. April 9 (Interfax) - The Defense Ministry of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has promised to assure the OSCE in writing that the militia did not open fire in Shyrokyne when the area was visited by OSCE monitors.
"This is a very weird situation. The OSCE protocol compels the monitors to turn back and leave an incident scene in the case of the slightest danger to their lives. But we have received a report on the alleged shooting incident in which they did not turn back and leave for some reason but continued their travel. This is an inconsistency," Eduard Basurin, a senior official of the DPR Defense Ministry, told Interfax.
In his words, the OSCE monitors arrived from the Ukrainian territory and the militia did not open fire. "We will send a written document to the OSCE, which will say that the militia did not fire," Basurin said.
The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said on Wednesday that its President Ilkka Kanerva called for an immediate end to the intimidation of OSCE monitors in Ukraine and reiterated the need for the monitors to have unfettered access throughout the country.
"The illegal separatists have threatened OSCE staff on the ground in Ukraine and I especially deplore yesterday's extreme example, in which a fighter from the so-called Donetsk People's Republic opened fire toward an OSCE monitoring patrol. This situation cannot continue as is, and I am even more convinced of the need to seriously consider an international peacekeeping mission to eastern Ukraine in support of the OSCE's civilian mission," Kanerva said.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (OSCE SMM) was deployed in March 2014. Its mandate was extended in March 2015 until March 31, 2016. The number of monitors may grow to 1,000 from the current 400 if necessary.