UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — Kiev has made groundless allegations regarding an Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Mission vehicle hitting a mine in Ukraine, Russian Mission to the UN Charge d'affairs Petr Iliichev told his Ukrainian counterpart at the Security Council.
"We see an attempt to place the blame — without any evidence — for the tragic incident that took place on April 23 along the contact line when a vehicle of OSCE Special Monitoring mission hit a mine," Iliichev said on Tuesday. "These accusations are unsubstantiated."
Iliichev made the remarks in reply to the statement of Ukrainian Ambassador to the UN Volodymyr Yelchenko who mentioned the incident and alleged that Russia’s reluctance to approve the Security Council statement in relation to the incident is very telling as to the perpetrators of this crime and their patrons.
In conclusion, he said that a genuine humanitarian demining process can only start when the conflict is over and for that all parties need to fully implement the Minsk agreements.
According to the information on the OSCE website, on 23 April, an SMM patrol vehicle, with three members on board, "was severely damaged as a result of an explosion, possibly after coming into contact with a mine."
As a result, of the explosion one male paramedic, a US native, died and two patrol members (a male from Germany and a female from the Czech Republic) were taken to a hospital in Luhansk.
Tuesday morning, the UN Security Council held its first meeting on the comprehensive approach to mine action and explosive hazard threat mitigation since 1996. UN Assistant Secretary-General for the rule of law and security issues addressed the Council for the first time since he took office. He emphasized that mines present a great threat for the civilians and significantly hamper humanitarian operations.
