SMM’s freedom of movement in Donbas restricted – report

The OSCE SMM said this in a report issued on January 29, based on information from the monitoring teams received as of 19:30 on January 29, 2020.

“At a checkpoint west of Verkhnoshyrokivske (formerly Oktiabr, non-government-controlled, 85km south of Donetsk), a member of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage, citing “ongoing engineering works in the area”,” reads the report.

At a checkpoint near Prymorske (non-government-controlled, 76km south of Donetsk), two armed members of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage towards Naberezhne (non-government-controlled, 77km south of Donetsk), citing “orders from their superiors”.

At a checkpoint on the southern edge of Nova Marivka (non-government-controlled, 64km south of Donetsk), an armed member of the armed formations denied the SMM passage, citing “ongoing engineering activities in the area”.

At a checkpoint on the eastern edge of Sosnivske (non-government-controlled, 78km south of Donetsk), an armed member of the armed formations denied the SMM passage, citing “orders from his superiors”.

At a border crossing point near Voznesenivka (formerly Chervonopartyzansk, non-government-controlled, 65km south-east of Luhansk), a member of the armed formations told the SMM to leave the area.

At the Chervona Mohyla railway station in Voznesenivka, two members of the armed formations told the SMM to leave the area.

The sides continued to deny the SMM full access, as well as the ability to travel certain roads previously identified as important for effective monitoring by the Mission and for civilians’ movement, through failure to conduct comprehensive clearance of mines, UXO and other obstacles.

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