Kyiv.Ukraine.Ukraine Gate – October- 21,2021- OSCE SMM said it was unable to dispatch a patrol from the Donetsk Patrol Hub because members of the expedition were still blocked at their hotel in the temporarily occupied Donetsk.
“Whereas the mission had noted that the assembly in front of the hotel where members of the mission were staying in the non-government-controlled city of Donetsk continued. There were no periodic movements in and out of its premises on October 19. The assembly continued on October 20.
As noted, throughout the day, around the hotel, the SMM observed a gathering of between 30 and 80 people (mixed genders and ages). The Mission “again heard protesters playing loud music over a speaker and saw media representatives filming statements and speeches given by participants.”
“It [Mission] also again observed that some protesters communicated with handheld radios and that they had placed wooden pallets on the driveway of the hotel, which could hamper vehicle access to the hotel entrance,” .
In the morning of 19 October, three Mission members exited the hotel to perform vehicle checks in the parking lot of the hotel. Eight participants of the gathering (men in their twenties and thirties) in civilian clothes allowed the Mission members to approach the SMM vehicles after 5 minutes. Some of them used their mobile devices to record Mission members performing vehicle checks, after which the Mission members returned to the hotel.
“On several occasions during the reporting period, the SMM observed different vehicles blocking the gate leading to the parking lot at the rear of the hotel, as well as blocking the eastern and western entrance of the hotel, and the presence of two members of the armed formations around the hotel,” .
