Donetsk, Feb 15 - DAN. The International Committee of the Red Cross will continue to work on both sides of the contact line in Donbass despite mounting tensions in the region, the ICRC Donetsk Office told the Donetsk News Agency on Tuesday.

“The ICRC offices are operating on both sides of the contact line in Donbass, including our team in Donetsk, which works as usual providing humanitarian assistance to affected communities,” the ICRC Office said.

“We plan to continue our efforts and are ready to adapt the humanitarian activities if the situation changes,” it said in response to the question on the prospects for ICRC operation in the Republic in the event the conflict re-enters the “hot phase.”

ICRC personnel are ready to provide support to residents of the region in the future, it added.

Earlier reports said that part of OSCE personnel from the United States and Great Britain had left Donetsk. The reports were preceded by rumors about the evacuation of monitors amid the withdrawal of western diplomats from Ukraine. However, the media stories on Special Monitoring Mission representatives stretched the truth as the “evacuation” of monitors from Donetsk turned out to be a rotation. *jk