Demining activities near Stanytsia Luhanska ongoing - OSCE

"On the morning of 5 August, the SMM saw a demining team of the State Emergency Service (SES) of Ukraine, comprised of ten people and three vehicles (including an armored vehicle) entering the disengagement area. It observed aforesaid deminers holding prodding sticks and metal detectors and cutting vegetation, as well as conducting demining activities in areas of about 125m on both sides of the road, from the northern edge of the broken section of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge (15km north-east of Luhansk) towards the northern edge of the disengagement area," the report says.

According to the report, on the same day, the SMM saw nine members of the armed formations, including three wearing armbands with "JCCC" written on them, heading from the checkpoint of the armed formations south of the bridge towards the broken section of the bridge.

"During the day, the SMM saw deminers from non-government-controlled areas using prodding sticks and metal detectors in an area west of the southern wooden ramp on the broken section of the bridge and a member of the armed formations standing nearby," the SMM said.

On the evening of the same day, following the closure of the entry-exit checkpoint of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the checkpoint of the armed formations at 18:00, the SMM heard two explosions, assessed as controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance (UXO) in the vicinity of the wooden ramp on the broken section of the bridge inside the disengagement area.

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