LUHANSK. May 22 (Interfax) - Ukrainian servicemen blocked the only exit from the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) to Stanitsa Luhanska, a town controlled by the Kyiv authorities, on Friday morning.
The Luhansk information center said that hundreds of people were standing near the Ukrainian army roadblock.
"Members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission [OSCE SMM] have arrived there. The international monitors have spoken to militiamen and are headed towards the Ukrainian roadblock surrounded by angry locals," it said.
"The [Ukrainian] roadblock stopped the traffic of people, even those carrying permits issued by the roadblock itself, at 6 a.m.," said a representative of the LPR territorial defense battalion controlling a bridge on the road to Stanitsa Luhanska.
The local residents who had been denied passage by the Ukrainian servicemen explained the ban with overnight bombardments. "They claimed their [Ukrainian] positions were shelled at night, and we were punished for three days. But what do ordinary people have to do with this? My house is situated a couple of kilometers from the Ukrainian roadblock but I am not allowed to pass," a local told the Luhansk information center, showing a permit to cross the contact line.
LPR territorial defense battalion servicemen said that up to 2,000-4,000 local residents crossed the bridge to Stanitsa Luhanska daily.