Violations of ceasefire and agreement on weaponry withdrawal by Ukrainian side— Russian diplomat

Russia’s ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Andrey Rudenko has spoken against politicized approach and attempts of Western partners to lay the responsibility for violations of the Minsk Package of measures only on the self-defense forces in Donbass.

Russian Foreign Ministry said Rudenko gave a speech at the OSCE Permanent Council session on Thursday. The diplomat noted the last reports of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) on Ukraine.

“On October 14, SMM registered near Stanitsa Luganskaya the results of the shelling of a self-defense forces’ checkpoint from mortars of 82mm and 120mm caliber from the northern direction — that is, from the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. On October 19, observers confirmed that mortar fire hit a checkpoint of the self-defense forces in the Kalinovo settlement. Fire was opened from the western direction — from the positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” Rudenko explained.

“The Ukrainian side also systematically violates the point of the Package of measures about withdrawing heavy weaponry,” he continued. “On October 16-19, SMM observers registered that 14 artillery systems, including multiple rocket launcher systems, were absent from Ukrainian Armed Forces’ storehouses. Despite repeated appeals by the SMM leadership, Kiev has not provided the updated list of storehouses and inventory numbers of large-caliber artillery stationed there,” Rudenko said.