SMM sees militants wearing ‘JCCC’ armbands in Donbas every day

At the weekend, the OSCE SMM saw militants wearing armbands with “JCCC” (Joint Center for Control and Coordination) written on them in the disengagement area near Stanytsia Luhanska, according to an OSCE report.

“On 10 August, inside the disengagement area, the SMM saw up to 15 deminers of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine clearing vegetation and conducting demining activities on both sides of the road, about 100m north of the broken section of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge (15km north-east of Luhansk)," the report says.

The Mission also saw about ten deminers from non-government-controlled areas clearing vegetation and conducting demining activities sides on both sides of the broken section of the bridge, starting from the wooden ramps. It also saw a senior member of the armed formations and two other members wearing armbands with “JCCC” written on them south of the bridge.

On the same day, between 18:30 and 18:45, after the closure of the Ukrainian Armed Forces entry-exit checkpoint (EECP) outside the disengagement area and the checkpoint of the armed formations south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge (inside the disengagement area), the SMM heard two explosions, assessed as controlled detonations of explosive devices, inside the disengagement area, near the broken section of the bridge.

On 11 August, the Mission saw two members of the armed formations wearing armbands with “JCCC” written on them south of the bridge.

On both days, the SMM saw that pedestrians continued crossing the bridge without interruption and the shuttle bus continued operating between the EECP and the broken section of the bridge.

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