Bluff and provocation! Why "DNR" militants block OSCE work in Donbas

Several insights on the situation with the OSCE in Donbas. Why do they need this muppet show? There is every expectation that the actions of the militants to take members of the OSCE SMM hostage and demand that Ukraine return the "LNR" militant Andrey Kosyak it detained is a bluff and psychological pressure that will not have serious consequences for the work of the OSCE Mission.

1. The campaign of blocking the OSCE demanding the release of detained suspect in the murder A. Kosyak are being held in the occupied part of the Donetsk oblast. Although he allegedly "represented" the "LNR" in the JCCC, that is, he is from Luhansk. This speaks of the political motives of this "spontaneous", as stated by the propagandists of CADLO, protest campaign. Nobody is blocking the OSCE office in Luhansk…

It is significant that Moscow almost does not raise the issue of the release of its citizen, but its Donbas puppets are literally hysterical. But the detained Kosyak is a citizen of Russia… This again suggests that CADLO simply use the detention of their militant as an excuse to portray themselves as a political entity, separate from Moscow. The fate of the Kosyak himself, as a person, is absolutely indifferent to them. They need a reason to make noise, to appear in the media and at the OSCE level as an author of the process.

2. The artificiality of the reason for protest campaigns against the OSCE is also obvious – they demand that the OSCE "put pressure" on Ukraine. But the OSCE SMM is a monitoring mission. It can only observe and record events, and not influence them and, moreover, participate in them. That is, the OSCE is initially demanded to do what it cannot give. The organizers of the protest campaign are well aware of this. This means that it is not the fulfillment of their requirements that is important to them, but the actions that they take as a result of their "non-fulfillment". Not Kosyak is important, but the muppet show they organize under the pretext of arresting him.

3. Blocking the work of the OSCE is a bluff, since CADLO is more than anyone else interested in the work of the OSCE there. The main goal for Moscow and the so-called "DNR"-"LNR" is the political subjectivization of the "republics". For this, Moscow included them in the Minsk process, for this, the Russian Federation replaced its officers in the JCCC with their militants, everything is for this, even military escalations in the Donbas. And the OSCE is the only platform that is a "window on the world" for them. They do not exist outside the TCG and without the OSCE. These are the only platforms that give them at least a sense of subjectivity, at least for a Russian TV. This is why all their statements about the meaninglessness of the "dialogue between Ukraine and the LNR" within Minsk and leaving the JCCC are a bluff. By which, there again, they are trying to portray subjectivity. Because there is no "dialogue with the LNR" in the Minsk process! There is no "LNR" in the Minsk process as well, and CALO will never leave the Minsk process, because it is its only sign of subjectivity, underdeveloped, but a sign.

4. Everything that is happening now in the Donbas around the OSCE can be considered a bluff also because the intention of Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Mikko Kinnunen and three more ambassadors-moderators of the TCG from the OSCE to visit CADLO was announced at the last TCG. Moscow is extremely interested in such trips, since they legitimize the "DNR"-"LNR" at least in their and Russian information space. If aggressive actions against the OSCE continue, such a visit is likely to fail. Therefore, blocking the OSCE work is a game of who will lose the nerves first, psychological pressure, and not a serious trend. Ambassador Çevik did the right thing by simply suspending the work of the Donetsk mission. Although, he did not have a choice, since the members of the mission are physically deprived of the opportunity to perform their functions. That is, he simply stated that the members of the mission did not have the ability to fulfill their mandate.

5. Moscow uses the Kosyak case to put pressure on the OSCE, in order to make the position of its new team in the TCG more pro-Russian. The new OSCE team takes a more impartial take after the summer rotation than the previous one. This is clearly displeasing Moscow, which is noticeable by the change in the tone of the Russian delegation in communication with the OSCE representatives during the TCG. The Russian party is openly rude not only to the Ukrainian delegation, but also to the OSCE. The last meeting was unprecedented in my memory, in terms of the level of rudeness and pressure on the OSCE from the Russian representatives from CADLO. But they always put pressure on those who allow themselves to be pressured. The current situation is a serious test for the OSCE representatives in Ukraine. If they succumb to pressure, then their ability to objectively play the role of mediator in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict will become very doubtful.

6. It is also very important for Kyiv not to succumb to pressure and bring all legal procedures against member of the illegal armed formation A. Kosyak suspected of killing a citizen of the Russian Federation to their logical conclusion. He can be EXCHANGED for Ukrainian citizens illegally detained in CADLO only after that. There is a certain activity on the part of the "DNR Ministry of State Security" in this matter already today, after more than a year of blocking the exchange process. The relatives of the prisoners inform me about this. It is necessary not to let this activity die by illegally freeing the militant and receiving no one in return.

The OSCE SMM published a report on Sunday evening in which it reported on, in fact, taking the staff of the OSCE Monitoring Mission in Horlivka hostage. Here is a quote from the report: "About 17:00, 2 men (30-39 years old) in civilian clothes entered the hotel and informed the SMM staff that they were allowed to move freely around the hotel and parking lot behind it, but they could not leave the hotel until a member of the armed forces, who was reportedly detained by the Armed Forces of Ukraine within the disengagement area near Zolote on October 13, would be released".

The OSCE is 57 states, and all decisions in it are made by consensus. That is, Russia also gave its consent to the sending of the OSCE SMM to the Donbas and guarantees of immunity to its members. And the fact that the members of the mission are de facto being held hostage by the militants financed and controlled by Russia is a challenge to the Kremlin junta to all the other 56 OSCE member states. So they know who they are dealing with…

Serhiy Harmash, OstroV