'Any Russians?' Moscow Disturbed Over Kiev Military Searching OSCE Members

Ukrainian servicemen and volunteer formation members illegally subject OSCE observers to multiple checks and question their citizernship.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Moscow is disturbed by Ukrainian forces holding illegal checks of observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe located in eastern Ukraine, as well as threats addressed to them, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a communique Monday.

“Such facts call forward revolt and are categorically inexcusable. The situation that has happened in regard to this issue by the Ukrainian military and volunteer formations leaves no doubt that the order on checking OSCE observers is coming from a single center,” the communique reads.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the OSCE observers succumb to vehicle searches, document checks and proof of citizenship, and are often asked if there are any Russians among the observers.

In the village of Muratovo in the Lugansk Region at the end of March, a Ukrainian military serviceman threatened that if there were any Russian employees in the OSCE mission, they would be killed.

These actions by Ukrainian forces, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry, run contrary to Kiev's duty to ensure the safety and freedom of movement for the monitors, and impede the OSCE mission from overseeing the implementation of the Minsk peace deal.

At a February meeting in Minsk, the leaders of Russia, France, Germany and Ukraine agreed on a new Minsk deal after a previously agreed-upon ceasefire had failed.

Under the February Minsk Agreement, the OSCE has been tasked with controlling the pullout of heavy weapons and monitoring the progress of the ceasefire and security at border crossings between Ukraine and Russia.

OSCE observers were deployed in Ukraine in March 2014 at the request of the Kiev government, which launched a military operation to suppress independence supporters of Donbass in April 2014.