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OSCE monitors 'shot at' in east Ukraine

November 20, 2014

The OSCE says a convoy carrying observers monitoring the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine has been shot at. This comes as UN human rights investigators report that killings and displacements are continuing despite the truce.

https://p.dw.com/p/1DqG3
A Ukrainian serviceman (R) and OSCE observers on a road near Donetsk. AFP PHOTO/ANATOLII STEPANOV ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP/Getty Images
Image: Anatoli Stepanov/AFP/Getty Images

A convoy of international observers has been shot at by unidentified "uniformed personnel" in eastern Ukraine, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said on Thursday.

In a statement, it said the observers were driving in two vehicles just west of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk on Wednesday afternoon when one of two uniformed men fired two shots at them from the back of a truck.

"The bullets struck about two meters (yards) from the second OSCE vehicle," the statement said, adding that no one was hurt in the incident. The convoy left the area immediately due to security concerns, it said.

The OSCE did not say where the two uniformed men were from, but said the shooting occurred in government-held territory near the town of Mariinka.

The OSCE has recently come under criticism from various quarters. The Ukrainian military has alleged that it has disclosed the location of government army formations, while Moscow has claimed that OSCE reports suggesting that military convoys from Russia were moving to help the rebels revealed a bias toward Kyiv.

Feeble truce

The organization has observers on the ground in the region to monitor a nominal ceasefire between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists agreed on September 5. The ceasefire has put an end to much fighting along the front line of the conflict, but shelling is continuing at strategic flashpoints.

The United Nations rights monitoring team in Ukraine said on Thursday that nearly 1,000 people have been killed since the truce was signed, and that the number of people displaced by the conflict had nearly doubled.

It said that 13 people were killed each day during the first eight weeks of the ceasefire, while the number of people registered as displaced within Ukraine soard from 275,489 in mid-September to 466,829 on Wednesday

In all, 4,317 people have been killed since the insurgency by the pro-Moscow separatists began in April, the UN said, calling the toll a "conservative estimate."

The conflict has plunged relations between the West and Russia to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War, with many Western countries accusing Moscow of aiding the rebels. Russia has always denied the charge.

tj/kms (dpa, AFP)