OSCE to Continue Work in Eastern Ukraine Despite Shelling

VIENNA (Sputnik) — The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM) to Ukraine will continue to monitor "hot spots" in the country’s east, including in the village of Shirokino, the mission’s deputy chief monitor said Friday.

In recent weeks, OSCE’s unarmed civilian monitors came under fire in Ukraine’s east at least twice, in the town of Shchastya in the Lugansk region on July 26 and in Shirokino in the southeastern region of Donetsk, the following day.

"We are not planning to withdraw from Shirokino ourselves. We will probably be back in the next days with a patrol again, and will continue to work there. This time was needed now to assess the situation, to understand what happened and why it happened," Alexander Hug told RIA Novosti.

On Tuesday, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ivica Dacic urged all the conflicting sides in eastern Ukraine to ensure the safety and freedom of movement of the OSCE monitors across the crisis-hit region.

The OSCE has been tasked with monitoring the situation in southeastern Ukraine, which remains tense, as both sides continue to accuse each other of violating the February Minsk ceasefire deal.

The mission was deployed to Ukraine in March 2014. Its mandate was recently extended until March 2016.