Donetsk, Oct 15 – DAN. About 150 people keep rallying in front of the OSCE SMM office in Donetsk to protest the mission's insufficient efforts in Donbass.
The protests began on October 15 when Donetsk residents set up tents outside the Park Inn hotel at the Pushkina Blvd where the mission is based, blocking its exits, following the abduction of an LPR officer in the JCCC by an armed Ukrainian reconnaissance squad in the "grey zone" of the Zolotoye settlement.
Protesters say that the SMM has relinquished its duty to assess the incident, having endangered the entire system of communication of the conflicting sides and, consequently, the security situation in the area.
"Ukraine has violated all the agreements promised numerous times by abducting the JCCC officer. There is no guarantee it won't violate them in future. It can result in a new escalation," one of the protesters, Darya Yuschenko of Donetsk said.
An improvised stage has been set up in front of the hotel where anyone can speak up.
Some participants demand that the SMM not only acts to liberate the captures officer, but intensifies its monitoring efforts and reports better on violations of the ceasefire.
"The OSCE has long been inefficient. I see people from the frontline areas, the situation there is really complicated. They feel frustrated because of the mission's idleness. I hope for positive dynamics, the SMM must expose Ukraine's unlawful actions, because rank-and-file residents of Donbass are hostages of the situation," Valentina Soinikova of the Amvrosiyevskiy region said.
The situation is calm. DPR police is deployed to the rally site. *ot