According to the current OSCE chairman, Sebastian Kurz, the car exploded due to a mine on its way. According to the LPR, the car deviated from the route it was supposed to follow. Later, the LPR's head urged the OSCE to coordinate routes its monitors' cars are chosing to avoid similar incidents.
"The reports about the death of an OSCE SMM employee fill me with grief and horror. Our thoughts are with the relatives of all OSCE employees who serve in this conflict region in the name of the international community. We wish speedy and full recovery to the injured OSCE employees, which include a German citizen," Merkel said, as quoted by the government’s press service.
She also called for investigation into the incident.
Eastern Ukraine has been in turmoil since April 2014, when the government in Kiev launched a military offensive against militia in Donbass. Despite the Minsk peace agreements signed in February 2015, the sides continue to blame each other for ceasefire violations.
The OSCE SMM to Ukraine was deployed in March 2014 to observe and report on the situation in the country.
This March, the SMM spokesperson told Sputnik that the observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) on Ukraine had been shelled at least seven times since the beginning of the year.
