Donetsk People's Republic Sends Protest Note To OSCE Over Arrest Of Official By Kiev

DONETSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th October, 2021) The self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) sent a note of protest to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) over Kiev's arrest of an official of the neighboring Luhansk People's Republic, the DPR envoy to the contact group said on Friday.

A representative of the Luhansk People's Republic in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) was reportedly captured by Ukrainian security forces while on a Kiev-sanctioned mission near the line of separation in the Donbas region. Kiev claimed the arrested LPR official was conducting reconnaissance of the positions of Ukrainian troops. The LPR denied the allegations, accusing Ukrainian military of using torture during interrogations and blaming the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (OSCE SMM) for inaction.

"We consider not only this event itself, but also lack of proper, adequate and absolutely necessary response measures of the mediators represented by the OSCE categorically unacceptable. Yesterday ... a note was sent to the OSCE Special Representative in Ukraine and to the Contact Group, as well as to the Head of the OSCE SMM, in which we expressed our categorical protest against Kiev's unacceptable actions," the envoy said in a statement.

People gathered on Friday in the center of Donetsk near the building where the OSCE mission observers have been stationed to protest the arrest of the LPR official and demand his release.

The protest is reportedly peaceful, there are no clashes with law enforcement officers and no attempts to enter the building. Representatives of the OSCE mission have not yet reacted to the demands.

In April 2014, the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, which declared independence after what they deemed a coup in Kiev in February 2014. According to the latest UN data, about 13,000 people have become victims of the conflict.

The issue of resolving the situation in Donbas is being discussed, among other things, during meetings in the contact group, which since September 2014 has already adopted three documents regulating steps to de-escalate the conflict. However, skirmishes continue even after the ceasefire agreements between the parties to the conflict were concluded.