Militants four times restricted SMM’s freedom of movement in Donbas over past day - report

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine reported that restrictions of the Mission’s freedom of movement continued in Donbas in the areas outside control of the Ukrainian government, according to a daily report published by the OSCE SMM on November 5.

“At a checkpoint on the eastern edge of Shevchenko (non-government-controlled, 69km south of Donetsk), two members of the armed formations, one of them visibly armed, again denied the SMM passage westward towards Mykolaivka (nongovernment-controlled, 70km south of Donetsk), citing the fact that “their superiors were not informed,” reads the report.

The second case was recorded at a checkpoint north of Zaichenko (non-government-controlled, 93km south of Donetsk), two armed members of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage south towards Sakhanka (non-government-controlled, 97km south of Donetsk), citing “ongoing demining activities”.

“At a checkpoint north of Novoazovsk (non-government-controlled, 102km south-east of Donetsk), two armed members of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage towards Siedove (non-government-controlled, 106km south of Donetsk), citing “the presence of a sabotage group in the area," reads the report.

Also, the mission reported that about 3km south-west of Metalist (non-government-controlled, 7km north-west of Luhansk), a member of the armed formations denied the SMM access to a military type compound, citing that “no one was permitted.”