OSCE urges parties to pull back from the contact line in eastern Ukraine
On both sides of the contact line, the distance between the Armed Forces of Ukraine and pro-Russian fighters was reduced to a few hundred meters. The Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Alexander Hug, said that the Army of Ukraine and the Russian fighters have to move further away from the contact line in the Donbas region.
According to mass media, in some places the distance between the opponents is reduced to only hundreds of meters. "They are so close that they can swear at each other across the line of demarcation," Hug said in an interview with Reuters. Originally, the combatants had to disperse for 2-5 km. However, the current rapprochement, as Hug says, is in danger of violating the truce.
Previously Hug said that 90% of violations of freedom of the OSCE movement in the Donbas region happen in separatist-controlled territory. He added that at the moment the Members of the Monitoring Mission are limited in movement in the area of Avdiivka and Yasynuvata. However, the representatives of the warring parties promise to ensure the free movement of the observers, as soon as they stop fighting.