Photo from UNIAN
The Ukrainian side of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) has reported the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine evacuated its office from the town of Popasna in Luhansk region due to the militant shelling, according to the press service of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) Headquarters.
"Important! As a result of shelling by illegal armed formations of the ORLO [separate areas in Luhansk region], the OSCE SMM staff were forced to evacuate their field office in Popasna," the ATO headquarters wrote on Facebook.
It is reported that at night on June 29, 2017, the ORLO militants shelled an office of the OSCE monitoring mission in the town of Popasna of Luhansk region, using banned 82mm mortars, as well as anti-aircraft guns and small arms.
Read alsoEscalation in Donbas: Ukraine reports 1 KIA, 6 WIA's in last dayIt is noted there are no victims among the OSCE mission staff. Detailed information on this attack will be made public in the near future on the official website of the OSCE SMM to Ukraine.
"By such armed attacks, the illegal armed formations of the ORLO are trying to intimidate the representatives of the OSCE mission and force them to curtail their work in the Luhansk sector," reads the report.
The Ukrainian side of the JCCC categorically condemns such actions by the illegal armed formations of the ORLO and qualifies them as a gross violation of the agreements reached earlier.