SAKHANKA (Donetsk region). Jan 20 (Interfax) - OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug described the Donbas situation as unstable and said that the installation of additional ceasefire surveillance cameras was under consideration.
Observers saw an increased number of shelling incidents along the entire contact line last week but the rate started to decline on Tuesday, which proved that the situation was unstable and an outbreak of tensions was possible any time, Hug told the press.
He said that the disengagement of forces and hardware on the contact line, the end of attacks and the implementation of the Minsk agreements was a way to bring peace.
According to Hug, the OSCE is considering the possibility of installing surveillance cameras on other parts of the contact line, and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has called for increasing their number but the decision has yet to be approved by all the 57 OSCE member states.
He also said he visited Kyiv-held territories on Thursday and came to the Kominternove village held by the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) together with a patrol on Friday to register a hindrance to the free movement of his monitors on both sides of the contact line.
Both the DPR and the Ukrainian army are blocking the road between Kominternove and Mariupol, he said, adding that the free movement of OSCE SMM monitors was being hindered and the OSCE SMM was discussing ways to remove the hindrances and mines with all parties to the conflict. The sides agreed that the hindrances should be removed, Hug said.
He also said that the sound of shots he heard during his visit to Sakhanka was not something normal.