You're reading: Iryna Herashchenko – Russia has denied OSCE SMM monitors access to occupied areas 125 times this month

Kyiv raised the issue of the denial of access for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission and control over the Ukrainian-Russian border on Aug. 22 at a meeting of the subgroup on security of the Trilateral Contact Group.

Verkhovna Rada First Deputy Speaker Iryna Herashchenko wrote on Facebook, “The Ukrainian side expressed concern about numerous facts of the denial of access for the OSCE CMM to occupied areas. As many as 125 such cases were recorded over a month. The OSCE also recorded the movement of Russian vehicles, in particular an electronic jamming system, which can hit civil aviation facilities. Provocations against the mission’s observers intensified after every true report by the SMM.”

According to Herashchenko, the Ukrainian side also protested against the movement of Russian hardware.

“We firmly raise the issue of control over the Ukrainian-Russian border. Then Russian weapons, hardware, mercenaries will not be hanging around. Closing the border is a fundamental requirement for the settlement of the conflict,” she said.