OSCE says no monitors, vehicles deployed in eastern Ukraine

That's according to a tweet posted by the organization's press service.

“The OSCE is not present in Donbas. Should you see any vehicles with OSCE markings in Donbas, know that they are not used for OSCE purposes,” the tweet reads.

The report comes after Ukraine’s war correspondent Andriy Tsaplienko posted a photo taken by eyewitnesses near checkpoint Izvarino connecting the occupied area with Russia, showing several SUV vehicles with OSCE insignia being transported into the warzone.

“It was on such cars that the OSCE SMM observers moved around Donbas until February 24, 2022. OSCE vehicles could not legally end up at the disposal of the Russians in any way,” Tsaplienko wrote.

“My version. Russians need these vehicles now for provocation. For example, they can be blown up, including with victims, and then Ukraine will be accused of a crime against the OSCE. Such a provocation, with subsequent circulation in the Russian media, would shift media attention away from the real war crime committed by the Russians in Dnipro.”

In fact, this is only one of the options for how the Russian command can use the OSCE SUVs, Tsaplienko suggests. “Timely publicity makes these options impossible. And I am grateful to those brave people in the occupied territory who took these photos,” he wrote.

As reported by Ukrinform, OSCE chief, head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Bujar Osmani, arrived on a visit to Kyiv.

He is expected to meet with senior officials and discuss the humanitarian and security challenges the country faces amid the war.

He will also visit the Kyiv region to see firsthand the impact of the war on the civilian population and infrastructure, and learn about the amount of international aid needed in the region.