15 OSCE observers remain detained in the Donetsk region

A group of 11 election observers of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was detained on May 28 at a roadblock in the Donetsk Oblast, reported the organization, which confirmed it has maintained contact with them. The prior day, four OSCE observers were detained by pro-Russian forces in the Donetsk Oblast, the Foreign Affairs Ministry reported. On May 29, the self-declared mayor of Sloviansk, Viacheslav Ponomariov, confirmed that his troops detained the four observers and they plan to release them soon, the Associated Press reported.

Ukraine’s Armed Forces reported several successes on May 28, including the neutralization of armed terrorists from Crimea in Donbas region, reported the Information Resistance news site. The National Guard reported one of their subunits successfully thwarted an armed attack on their base in the Luhansk Oblast. Energy giant DTEK, controlled by magnate Rinat Akhmetov, issued a May 28 statement saying that miners aren’t joining the terrorists and urged its employees to reveal attempts to recruit them by the pro-Russian forces.

Gunfights were reported in numerous cities on May 28, including near the occupied headquarters of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in Donetsk, as well as a school and residents in Sloviansk. Russia arms were discovered in the Donetsk airport, and armed forces destroyed an unmanned reconnaissance device outside of Donetsk. Among the day’s reported kidnappings were two police officers in the Donetsk Oblast and the head of a district state administration in the Luhansk Oblast.

Zenon Zawada: The pro-Russian forces certainly aren’t striving to earn the sympathy of Western governments when kidnapping its representatives. Such actions confirm their lack of organization and strategy since they have little to gain from them.