"DNR" propagandists plainly trying to shift responsibility for UAV attack on OSCE SMM patrol onto AFU

An OSCE SMM patrol was attacked by an explosive device from a drone in Ukraine-controlled territory on Saturday. This is said in the Mission's spot report.

It traditionally does not name the attacking side

Traditionally, for neutral observers, it does not name the attacker, but the sequence of events suggests that the attack on the patrol was carried out by a drone belonging to the "LNR" illegal armed formations.

In particular, the Mission's summary notes that "at 14:15 on 6 November, while positioned on the western edge of Bolotene (government-controlled, 22km north-east of Luhansk), the Mission heard four bursts of small-arms fire at an assessed range of less than 50m south of its position. SMM patrol members immediately re-entered their vehicles".

Most likely, the fire mentioned in the report was conducted by the Ukrainian military trying to shoot down the drone flying over them.

"A few seconds later, while driving away, the Mission observed soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces firing into the air and saw a grey non-SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle flying over positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and then over the SMM patrol at an assessed altitude of 100-150m", - the message of the OSCE SMM confirms this assumption.

Later, the unidentified UAV hovered over the Mission's patrol, after which some kind of ammunition exploded in the immediate vicinity of the observers' vehicle.

"As the patrol continued to drive away, at 14:16, it heard and saw one impact explosion at an assessed range of 20-30m south-east of its position", - this incident is reported in the summary.

In a situation where the fact of an attempt by the AFU to destroy the drone that subsequently dropped ammunition near the OSCE SMM patrol is obvious, separatist propaganda is trying to shift the responsibility onto the Ukrainian party.

"A grey, short-range unmanned aerial vehicle that did not belong to the SMM flew at an altitude of 100-150 m… over the Mission's patrol", - Vladislav Berdichevskiy, who calls himself a "deputy of the people's council", took a separate fragment out of the report's context.

"Given that a short-range drone was used in the incident, it could only be operated from the territory controlled by Kyiv, and the very fact of the attack on the OSCE SMM crew cannot be considered otherwise as a serious violation by Ukraine of the Mission's mandate and its obligations towards it", - he came to a conclusion that follows from nothing.

The "People's Militia of the LNR" even stated that the AFU shot down their own grey drone, having mistaken it for a white drone of the OSCE SMM. Allegedly, this UAV conducted reconnaissance of positions of the "LNR" illegal armed formations while being above the AFU positions.