Militants deny SMM passage towards disengagement area near Petrivske

The OSCE SMM said this in a report issued on January 27, based on information from the monitoring teams received as of 19:30 on January 26, 2020.

“On January 25, at a checkpoint west of Verkhnoshyrokivske (formerly Oktiabr, non-government-controlled, 85km south of Donetsk), an armed member of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage, citing an “order from superiors”,” reads the report.

On January 25-26, at a checkpoint of the armed formations about 3km north of Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), armed members of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage southwards towards the disengagement area near Petrivske, citing an “order from superiors” as well as “an ongoing operation” and “demining activities in the area”.

During the day on January 25, an SMM mini-UAV experienced GPS signal interference, assessed as caused by probable jamming, while flying over Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk).

On January 26, at a checkpoint north of Zaichenko (non-government-controlled, 93km south of Donetsk), an armed member of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage towards Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, non-government-controlled, 92km south of Donetsk) and Sakhanka (non-government-controlled, 97km south of Donetsk), citing “ongoing demining activities”.

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