LUHANSK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th May, 2021) Luhansk forces do not target monitoring drones of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), with shelling possible in rare cases if the OSCE does not warn of flights, the leader of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), Leonid Pasechnik, said in an interview with Sputnik.
In mid-April, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) told Sputnik that its monitoring drones had been recently subject to targeted attacks from the non-government-controlled areas. In particular, from March 22 to April 4, its drones were targeted three times by small-arms fire, which resulted in the loss of one mini-UAV, and once by heavy-machine-gun fire, all in non-government-controlled areas. The drones were also the focus of intense jamming.
"There is a certain order: before using an unmanned aerial vehicle, it would be logical to inform us, in which area it will fly, in which area it will be used and what it will monitor. These moments need to be coordinated because we do not know whose drone it is, and you cannot explain it to every soldier either. The emergence of a new drone can be regarded as a drone that flew in from the Ukrainian side, as a reconnaissance drone that scouts our positions," Pasechnik said.
The LPR leader also said that the OSCE observers generally complied with the order and informed of its monitoring drones' flights, noting that nevertheless, they sometimes break the order.
"There are times when they do not comply, there are incidents when our military, without understanding whose drone it is, can, of course, use weapons against it. But there are very few such cases," Pasechnik added.
Commenting on the attacks, the official supposed that they could be conducted by the Ukrainian military forces, as they began after the OSCE SMM recorded the movement of more than 500 units of Ukraine's heavy equipment toward the line of contact.
"And then all of a sudden, their drones began to be jammed, began to be exposed to the effects of electronic warfare against them ... I believe that here the fault also lies with the Ukrainian side," Pasechnik said.
The OSCE participating states unanimously approved in late March the extension of the SMM's mandate until 2022. The mission will continue with its duties of "facilitating localized ceasefires to enable repairs and maintenance to essential infrastructure, and monitoring ceasefire adherence."
