OSCE Deputy Chief Monitor In Ukraine Comes To Breakaway Luhansk Amid Kidnapping Row

Sumaira FH Published October 17, 2021 | 03:50 PM

LUHANSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2021) The OSCE deputy chief monitor in Ukraine arrived in the capital of the breakaway Luhansk region on Sunday after its authorities broke off dialogue with Kiev over a kidnapping of its peace enforcer.

The Luhansk government challenged the European security organization over its inaction after Ukrainian troops arrested an official of the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC), made up of Ukrainian and rebel monitors who oversee the ceasefire at the line of separation.

"Mark Etherington, deputy chief monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, arrived in Luhansk at the invitation of the Luhansk People's Republic foreign minister and envoy to the Contract Group, Vladislav Deinego," the Luhansk foreign affairs authority said in a statement.

Andriy Kosyak, the Luhansk official with the JCCC, was abducted on Wednesday near the contested town of Zolote in the Luhansk region. Ukraine said he was spying on its troops. Luhansk has denied the claim and accused Ukrainian forces of torturing the war prisoner.