Russia brought vehicles with OSCE markings to occupied Donbas, OSCE denies its presence in the area.

On 15 January, Ukrainian military reporter Andrii Tsaplienko shared a photo of OSCE-marked vehicles transported near the Izvaryne border checkpoint in occupied Luhansk Oblast near the Russian border.

OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) operated in Ukraine including the occupied parts of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts from 2014 up to Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“The photo shows truck trailers arriving from Russia. On the trailers, there are white Toyota Land Cruiser SUVs with OSCE markings. Such were the vehicles used by the OSCE SMM observers to move around Donbas until 24 February 2022. OSCE vehicles could not legally end up at the disposal of the Russians in any way,” Tsaplienko wrote.

Andrii Tsaplienko suggested that Russians may use the OSCE-marked SUVs in a provocation to blame Ukraine for an alleged attack against members of the OSCE.

The OSCE denied its presence in the Donbas and said that any vehicles with OSCE markings in the area are not used for OSCE purposes:

‼️ 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.

— OSCE (@OSCE) January 16, 2023

Read also:

• OSCE demands to free its Ukrainian workers sentenced in Russian proxy “republic” for “treason”

OSCE demands to free its Ukrainian workers sentenced in Russian proxy "republic" for "treason"

The "LNR court" claimed both were recruited by SBU&CIA, accused them of passing info on "movement of military personnel &equipment" – literally, @OSCE_SMM's jobhttps://t.co/SPc7uSVa1E pic.twitter.com/lSnyqJbYmN

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) September 20, 2022

OSCE suspends projects in Ukraine due to Russia’s veto

Despite support from participating States for continuation of the work of OSCE, no consensus on its mandate extension was reached due to the position of Russia, Chairman-in-Office Zbigniew Rau said https://t.co/5rs6SytlTd pic.twitter.com/1EP8F8TgWh

— Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) July 1, 2022

https://twitter.com/EuromaidanPress/status/1544780726771630080

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