Heavy weapons still not withdrawn in Donbas - OSCE

Many heavy weapons, which have not been withdrawn, still remain in southeastern Ukraine, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission Principal Deputy Chief Monitor Alexander Hug said.

The weapons still have not been withdrawn, and the SMM observers see those weapons, including artillery mounts, mortars, and sometimes even multiple rocked launcher systems, in the so-called safety zone every day, he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

He recalled that all weapons should be withdrawn in accordance with the Minsk Agreements and adjusted schedules.

Moreover, it is necessary to increase the distance between the positions of the two sides to provide a stable ceasefire, they are still too close to each other now, he said.

Hug also said that the facts of obstruction to the observers' activity and denial of their access to the sites persist.

As of today, the mission consists of 715 observers, 590 of them working in eastern Ukraine, he said.