New deputy chief of OSCE SMM to Ukraine arrives in occupied Donetsk

Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE SMM Mark Etherington arrived in occupied Donetsk on a working visit. This is reported by separatist media with reference to the Donetsk office of the Mission.

"Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission Mark Etherington is currently in Donetsk on a working visit…", – the report said.

The duration of the visit is unknown.

This is the first visit of Etherington to Donetsk since taking office.

As previously reported, on November 1, Mark Etherington became the new Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, having replaced Alexander Hug, who left office.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine began its work on March 21, 2014 on the basis of a request from the government of Ukraine to the OSCE and consensus decision of all 57 OSCE participating states. The SMM is an unarmed civilian mission. Its main tasks are to impartially and objectively observe and report on the situation in Ukraine, as well as to promote dialogue between all parties to the conflict.