Four OSCE vehicles were set on fire in Donetsk on August 9. This caused the mission to respond with a statement which rather vaguely puts the responsibility on those who control the city, that is, the militants. In that diplomatically-worded statement, the organization did not use terms like “bandits” or “terrorists.”
Just as the abovementioned terrorist attack on the OSCE vehicles unfolded, some “concerned youths” held a rally in Luhansk in front of the mission’s office, demanding it to record events impartially and stop attacks on Luhansk by the anti-terrorist operation forces. Given that Luhansk has not been shelled at all for quite some time, while Ukrainian-held Stanytsia Luhanska and the town of Shchastia are shelled from Luhansk all the time, such posters and rallies are organized not to influence the mission itself, but rather to make an impact on the media coverage.
The mission’s work in the Donbas has been criticized from both sides of the conflict for more than a year. Recently, however, the OSCE started “seeing the light” as it recorded the presence of Russian troops in the occupied territory of Ukraine. For example, its observers reported in early August that some armed camouflage-clad persons described themselves to the mission as paratroopers from Orenburg, namely soldiers of the Russian 16th Airborne Brigade. It follows from this fact that the mission’s observers have become a quite uncomfortable element for the militants and, accordingly, for Russia, whose generals regularly visit the Donbas and participate in planning and directing attacks on the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF). For example, the UAF General Staff reported on August 10: “According to our latest intelligence, deputy commander of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation, Colonel-General Aleksandr Lentsov, said to be involved in coordinating the militants’ actions, is now in the militant-controlled territory.” Let us recall that Lentsov was repeatedly seen in the war zone in the east of Ukraine. His name is particularly associated with the seizure of the Donetsk airport and the occupation of Debaltseve, where he was seen on February 17, 2015. Lentsov is the Russian representative in the Joint Center for Supervising and Coordinating the Ceasefire (JCSCC), but it is he who is the supervisor of offensive operations in these areas as well. Therefore, yet another appearance of his in the occupied territory presages more active hostilities. We will say more on that later...
The OSCE released a report on its main website on August 10, stating that the militants used banned ammunition, more precisely phosphorous bombs. As proof, the observers cited photos provided by the Ukrainian 128th Brigade, holding Stanytsia Luhanska, which clearly showed that all shelled vehicles were incinerated, as well as visible traces of a white substance in shell craters. Let us recall Den’s recent report which cited witnesses saying that homes hit by shelling from Russian terrorist-occupied Luhansk, too, were burned from inside rather than demolished.
Torching of OSCE cars, abovementioned fake protests in Luhansk and Russian media’s hysteric claims of “sabotage groups” which allegedly set on fire the observers’ Jeeps in Donetsk – all these are accompanied by a powerful wave of militant attacks near Mariupol, namely in the areas of Shyrokyne and Volnovakha. For example, the bandits took the village of Novolaspa, killing four of our soldiers and leaving a tank missing, even though our command had reported this village, located 30 km from Volnovakha, as liberated. It should be noted that the enemy was freely expending its manpower by sending infantry into battle and readily engaging in close combat. Press service of the General Staff said in an official statement: “The militants committed a cynical violation of previous agreements by firing their artillery and mortars on our positions in the area of Starohnativka [Telmanove raion of Donetsk oblast. – The Day] for several hours.”
The General Staff believes that the militants torched OSCE cars to try and intimidate international organizations’ representatives. Bandits put pressure on observers and hinder them in their work to provide impartial information on the situation in the region. In his turn, Commander-in-Chief of the UAF Petro Poroshenko instructed the government to inform the OSCE mission and, through the JCSCC, representatives of the Russian Federation, of the terrorists’ violations of February 2015 Minsk Accords. Obviously, neither the militants nor Russia are satisfied with the independent third party’s presence in the Donbas. Pressure, intimidation, endangering the life of the mission’s members are all employed to neutralize the activity of the OSCE as an independent observer. During a meeting with students of Den’s Summer School of Journalism, held in Den’s office, chair of the security subgroup at the Minsk talks Yevhen Marchuk commented on the role of the OSCE in the east of Ukraine: “It is important for Ukraine that European countries have reliable information about events taking place in our country. OSCE mechanisms provide for informing their superiors at the organization’s Vienna headquarters. They also have to assist both parties in defusing the conflict, but they have no right to interfere in political or military affairs. However, this mission observes a very strict rule: if there is the slightest danger to personnel in the exercise of their duties, the senior observer should avoid risks to the observers at any cost. Now imagine that the OSCE is absent from the war zone, that is, there is no third party, no matter how much we like it or not. We report one thing, Russia claims another, the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk ‘people’s republics’ (DNR and LNR) have yet another story to tell. In some cases, there are grounds for criticism, especially regarding the OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, because there are Russians on it, as Russia is a member of this organization. Clearly, this is an issue. However, had Russians been excluded from the mission, Russia would block all other OSCE procedures. I believe that the third party fulfills its mission as well as it realistically can, and I do not support the wave of claims against them which are now being put forward.”
In the background of these developments and threatening trends, the occupiers effectively sabotaged the early August talks in Minsk on demilitarizing the areas along the line of contact. Thus, we have to do with the DNR and LNR intentionally escalating the conflict, putting pressure on the observers and showing absolute disregard for any previous agreements. Meanwhile, the OSCE is currently the sole international organization that is trying to impartially inform the public of the events in the Donbas war zone. The pressure put by the militants and Russia on the organization’s representatives, exerted for a long time, is a sign of the Kremlin’s continuing aggression. Russia will seek to maximize its influence on the situation in Ukraine by getting rid of any alternative sources covering the situation in the occupied territories. Besides, we are dealing in the Donbas with more than the Russian aggression as such, as it involves also crimes committed by specific individuals, so records and evidence of these crimes should be subsequently used in international courts. Russia vetoing a UN Security Council resolution on the creation of a tribunal charged with investigating the downing of the Malaysian Boeing airliner that occurred a year ago only proves that Russia is aware of its own degree of guilt and will try at all costs to avoid charges and penalties.
