A regular session of the Work group on humanitarian issues, which was moderated today for the first time be the new OSCE coordinator Charlotte Relander, ended without progress. The key changes, that took place in composition of the panel, didn’t become an impulse for the Ukrainian side to change the tone of negotiations. Representatives of the Kiev delegation are still blocking key issues on the agenda.
In particular, the Kiev negotiators didn’t provide information again on the procedural “clearance” of 50 persons transferred to the DPR within the framework of the previous stages of the exchange. It should be remembered, that it is non-fulfilment of obligations on the procedural “clearance” by Ukraine that is the main reason why the humanitarian group hasn’t moved on to substantive discussion of new stages of exchange for more than a year and a half.
From session to session, the Kiev delegation emphasizes its inability to negotiate and tries to distort the essence of the Minsk agreements. Taking this fact into account, I considered it necessary to inform the new coordinator about the situation in the DPR as a result of the armed aggression on the part of Ukraine.
In particular, I provided Ms. Relander with information about the number of our citizens who were killed, injured and disabled as a result of the shelling of the AFU. Also, it was announced that statistics showing the number of refugees; missing persons; destruction of housing stock and social infrastructure.
These numbers are important not only for understanding the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe in the region. They are proof of the genocide of the local population and, I am sure, allow forming an objective understanding of the essence and consequences of the events in Donbass.
