Militants fire on OSCE SMM mini-UAV near Popasna

"The Ukrainian side of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination reports: the armed formations of the Russian Federation and their mercenaries in Donbas continue to deliberately impede the use of unmanned aerial vehicles of the OSCE SMM," the press center of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) Headquarters reports with reference to the Ukrainian side of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC).

 “While positioned at the eastern edge of Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk), conducting a mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight to observe a snow removal operation over the road T-0504, the SMM heard six bursts of small-arms fire approximately 1.5-2km east of its position, which it assessed as aimed at the UAV. The mini-UAV lost altitude and the SMM lost control over the UAV and was unable to recover it,” reads the report of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30, 10 January 2019.

In the opinion of the Ukrainian side of the JCCC, the provocative actions of the mercenaries of the Russian armed formations are linked with the intentions to conceal their shelling in the direction of the JFO units.