Donetsk, Nov 13 - DAN. The OSCE unmanned aerial vehicle was flying over Kiev-held part of Donbass when it disappeared on October 27, Donetsk People’s Republic People’s Militia deputy chief Eduard Basurin said at a press briefing in Donetsk.
“As part of the effort to help in the search for the missing OSCE Special Monitoring Mission drone, we found out the circumstances of the incident to clarify the situation,” Basurin said. “A DPR People’s Militia radar detected an aircraft, supposedly belonging to the OSCE, which crossed the contact line at a height of 2,000 metres at 02:15 on October 27.”
“At 02:25, the aircraft went out of the radar range and disappeared in the Ukrainian-controlled territory,” he said.
On October 26-17, a Ukrainian army radio electronic warfare team operated in the Kiev-controlled Kurakhovo settlement area from which the drone had been launched. The team withdrew about 4:00 a.m. right after the UAV disappearance. Air defence units of the Ukrainian army’s 28th Brigade went on alert in the same area overnight to October 27, according to Basurin.
“We can assert that the OSCE SMM UAV is in the Ukrainian territory and that Ukraine is deliberately hiding it in order to accuse the DPR of involvement in the incident,” the People’s Militia deputy chief said.
Earlier reports said that militia units, assisted by DPR police and rescuers launched a search for the OSCE drone which was lost on October 27. *jk