Official: Team of military observers travelling in eastern Ukraine with OSCE detained
SLOVYANSK, Ukraine – An official says pro-Russian forces have detained a team of military observers travelling across eastern Ukraine with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The team was being held in the eastern city of Slovyansk late Friday, according to Stella Khorosheva, a spokeswoman for the town’s self-proclaimed separatist mayor. She said the group possessed “suspicious materials,” but said they were unharmed and would be released after further investigation.
The OSCE wrote on Twitter that they had lost communication with the German-led team, but that all members of the OSCE monitoring team were safe.
Pro-Russian insurgents have seized police stations and government buildings in at least 10 cities and towns in eastern Ukraine in April. Militia groups have kidnapped several journalists over the past week in the increasingly unstable region.
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