The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) has said that they have information that their missing Ukrainian driver is held in Donetsk and they insist on his unconditional release.

"The OSCE SMM can confirm that one of our local staff in Luhansk region did not return from leave as planned, on 7 June. The police was informed. We understand that he is reportedly held in Donetsk. We are in contact with the relevant actors to resolve this matter. We have demanded his immediate and unconditional release," the mission said in a statement posted on its Facebook page on Wednesday.

The National Police branch in Luhansk region reported earlier that on June 6, the Severodonetsk police department received a report from a woman, born in 1984, that at about 09:00 on June 4 she lost contact with her husband, born in 1979, who works as a driver for the OSCE. The driver left the town of Stakhanov, which is controlled by the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, in the bus which was heading to Donetsk region, where he was to take his Suzuki car, to bring it home.