Translated by Ollie Richardson & Angelina Siard

14:30:10
01/03/2017

ruposters.ru

The OSCE monitoring mission reported that they don’t know who arranged the railway blockade of Donbass, reports RIA Novosti.

According to the deputy head of the OSCE SMM in Ukraine, Alexander Hug, railways are blocked by “activists without any obvious affiliation”.

“We observe the flags of former voluntary battalions, but to who they belong to is not clear. We see flags, but not of the former voluntary battalions themseves, these are flags of “Azov” and other former voluntary battalions,” he said.

The representative of the OSCE noted that a “strict” blockade is arranged for Donbass – if earlier coal was transported by rail, now “nothing move there”. Hug believes that civilians on both sides of the frontline will suffer from this.

As was reported by Ruposters, the coal blockade of Donbass from the Ukrainian side has been ongoing since January 25th. Its aim is to stop trade with parts of Ukraine uncontrolled by Kiev. Blockade is supported by veterans of the anti-terrorist operation, public figures, politicians, and deputies of the Verkhovna Rada. It led to an acute shortage of coal for the Ukrainian power and metallurgy sector. On February 15th an emergency regime in the energy sector was introduced.

Last week it became known that Moscow took the decision to begin direct supplying of coked coal to the Donetsk and Lugansk Peoples Republics.

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