Russia Calls on OSCE to Verify Data About Kiev-Deployed Heavy Weaponry

Russia has called on the observers from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to investigate reports that Ukrainian heavy weapons had been deployed near the line of contact, the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry said Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According to the statement, Kiev has reportedly concentrated and regrouped military hardware close to the towns of Debaltsevo, Donetsk, Gorlovka and Mariupol in violation of the Minsk peace accords.

“The Russian side in the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) told the SMM representatives that… Kiev is deploying forces equipped with heavy weaponry on the line of contact. Russia proposed to check this information,” the press service said in a statement.

In February 2015 the two sides reached a ceasefire deal after talks between the leaders of Russia, Germany, France and Ukraine in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. One of the provisions in the agreement stipulated the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the line of contact between the conflicting sides in Ukraine’s southeast.

The OSCE mission was deployed at Kiev's request in 2014. It has been tasked with monitoring the situation in southeastern Ukraine, which remains tense, as both Kiev and Donbass forces continue to accuse each other of violating the Minsk II ceasefire deal.