OSCE Finds Evidence That Ukrainian Forces Deploy Drones In Donbas

LUHANSK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th July, 2019) The Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) said that it detected the use of drones by the Ukrainian forces in crisis-struck Donbas region in the east of the country.

"The SMM saw a man wearing camouflaged clothing operating a device and landing a UAV (quadcopter, grey colour) near the vehicle on road T-0504 on the eastern edge of Popasna [a city in Luhansk Region of Donbas]," the mission said, adding that this happened in the "government-controlled area.

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The conflict in Donbas started in 2014, when the Ukrainian authorities launched a military operation against the self-proclaimed republics in the region that refused to recognize the new government in Kiev, which came to power after what they considered to be a coup. In February 2015, the warring parties signed the Minsk peace accords to end the hostilities in the region, but the situation has remained tense, with both parties accusing each other of ceasefire violations.