The OSCE has released its weekly update / Photo from facebook.com/ato.news
The OSCE observer mission based at the Russian checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk in Rostov Oblast says it continues seeing trucks transporting coal from Donbas to Russia and reports an increase in the number of trucks with Belarusian number plates in militant-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine.
The OSCE observer mission (OM) said in its weekly update based on information as of 1000 Moscow time on May 19, 2015, it observed intense cargo truck traffic at the border checkpoint (BCP) Donetsk crossing the border in both directions.
"During the reporting week the OM continued to observe an increased number of trucks crossing the border in both directions. The OTs continued to observe dumper trucks transporting coal from the Luhansk region to the Russian Federation through the BCP Gukovo. The OTs observed intense cargo truck traffic at BCP Donetsk crossing the border in both directions," the weekly update reads.
"While the majority of the trucks are registered in Luhansk oblast, during the reporting period the OTs have also observed trucks registered in Belarus crossing the border. The OTs have observed that the number of trucks registered in Belarus has increased compared to the previous reporting week; in total 26 of these trucks were observed crossing the border in both directions at the Donetsk BCP," the OSCE observers reported.
Separately, the OTs also observed tanker trucks crossing the border both ways. These crossings occurred at both BCPs. These trucks for the most part had the word "Propane" and "Flammable" written across the tanks in Russian.