Occupation authorities of the "DNR/LNR" are using the COVID-19 pandemic to block the work of the OSCE SMM patrols on the territory of CADLO. This was stated by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky during a working trip to the Donbass, - correspondent of OstroV reports.
"Attempts to use the pandemic in order to hide the crimes that continue in the uncontrolled territory are screaming", - he said.
"It is unacceptable when out of 236 OSCE SMM observers who worked in CADLO (before the epidemic - OstroV), only 23 remain. Their number may be reduced to 13 in the near future", - the president was indignant.
In turn, the representative of the Mission expressed hope that there would be 100 OSCE SMM monitors in the uncontrolled territory by the end of the week.
As previously reported, the "DNR/LNR" occupation authorities regularly deny the OSCE SMM personnel access to the occupied territory under the guise of quarantine measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.