Parties to conflict in Donbass prepare for escalation of armed hostilities - OSCE

Parties to the conflict in Donbass prepare for escalation of the conflict. This was reported at a briefing today by Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE SMM to Ukraine Alexander Hug, - correspondent of OstroV reports.

"Last week, yet again, we saw more violence along the contact line. The number of ceasefire violations, registered by the OSCE SMM last week was higher than the previous week. Along with that, the situation in the Svitlodarsk direction was particularly worrying - we registered twice as many ceasefire violations in that area last week compared to the previous week", - he reported.

"The parties continue to refuse to abide by the agreements, designed to end the conflict… The parties do not withdraw weapons, disengage forces and formations, or demine. Instead of fully complying, instead of withdrawing weapons, disengaging and demining, it seems the parties are, in fact, doing the opposite. Along the entire line of contact, the OSCE SMM has been for a long time observing the failure to implement the agreements reached. The parties not only do not carry out demining, they lay more mines", - A.Hug added.

He also noted that the OSCE SMM also registers recently dug trenches along the contact line, the parties to the conflict "literally and figuratively dig in."

"Instead of withdrawing weapons, all that we see is signs of building-up forces and resources. We see weapons everywhere - in trenches and dug-outs", - he said.

"We register signs that the parties are preparing to continue the conflict and even to escalate it… All indicating that the parties are preparing to ramp up this conflict rather than end it", - the Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE SMM to Ukraine stressed.