Today, on November 12, in accordance with the implementation roadmap approved by the Contact Group, the Chief of the DPR Representative Office to the JCCC has notified the OSCE SMM that the first 3-day cycle of the practical activities has been completed at the disengagement area No. 3 near Petrovskoye, the forces and equipment of the DPR People’s Militia have been withdrawn from the area.
The Chief of the Representative Office also informed the Mission of the readiness to begin the next cycle on November 13, namely, demining activities, which involves topographic engineering, the removal of explosive items, the marking of inaccessible explosive zones, and the further dismantlement of fortifications and other military facilities, in our case, a trench that goes 10 meters inwards the area from its northeastern part.
In the context of the implementation of the roadmap approved by the Trilateral Contact Group, we are puzzled by yesterday’s statement from representatives of the so-called joint forces operation on the start of the demining on November 12. The Ukrainian side seems to be again mixing up the dates, since in accordance with the implementation roadmap, November 12 is supposed to be the day when the parties notify the OSCE SMM of the end of the 3-day cycle of activities, as well as of their readiness to proceed with the next cycle, which begins on November 13 if both parties confirm their readiness.
After the parties notify the Mission of the completion of the disengagement, the monitors arrive at the site to conduct an inspection and make certain that manpower and weapons are withdrawn completely. A special progress report on the verification will be published on the Mission’s official website.
We remind that a similar procedure was carried out at the pilot disengagement area No. 2 in Zolotoye: the withdrawal of forces and equipment lasted three days, from October 29 to November 1, and when the SMM conducted the verification, the Mission’s progress report was published on the fifth day, November 2, then the next cycle of activities began.
In this regard, the logic of Ukraine’s statements is becoming less and less clear: representatives of the official Ukrainian government once again set their own dates, interpret the reached agreements in their own way and mislead the public.
In turn, the Republic fully adheres to the implementation roadmap agreed upon by the Trilateral Contact Group, and after the OSCE SMM conducts the verification and publishes the progress report, we will be ready to proceed with the second cycle of the practical activities.