We join OSCE Special Monitoring Mission Chief Monitor Ambassador Apakan in his unequivocal condemnation of yesterday’s attack on SMM monitors and theft of SMM UAV by Russia-led separatists. The SMM fulfills a critical role in observing military actions and movements along the line of contact, and its work helps save civilian lives. SMM monitors should have unrestricted access to all areas that they patrol, free from threats and intimidation. As Ambassador Apakan said, attacks such as this are a direct challenge to the collective will of the 57 OSCE participating states, and to the Minsk agreements.
