OSCE to Begin Monitoring Russian Border Crossings

W460

Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe were set to arrive in southern Russia Tuesday on their mission to monitor two border crossings with rebel-held Ukraine, the OSCE said.

The first members of the team of 16 civilian monitors were due to arrive in Russia's Rostov region where they were expected to hold meetings with officials from the regional administration, border guards and customs service, said OSCE spokeswoman Tatyana Baeva.

They could begin visiting the two Russian border posts as soon as Wednesday, she said.

Russia has been keen to refute Western allegations that it has been supplying weapons across the border to pro-Russian rebels.

However the three-month OSCE mission only covers two border crossings -- Donetsk and Gukovo -- and not the entire border.

"The monitors were sent where the border isn't being crossed," independent Russian defense analyst Pavel Felgenhauer told Agence France Presse.

"There is no use for such monitoring as it is summer and it is dry, so you don't need roads and can cross the border at any place," he added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that the OSCE observers were free to use drones or satellites to monitor the border.

But the OSCE said that a tender it held last week for drones was for its monitoring mission in Ukraine rather than its border mission.

"The OSCE Observer Mission that is currently heading to the Russian Federation does not plan on using the services of the drones," said Baeva.

The Russian foreign ministry said Tuesday that the Gukovo customs post had again come under grenade and automatic weapons fire from Ukrainian forces.

"It seems that Kiev is clearly concerned about the deployment of the OSCE mission to monitor the situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border," said a foreign ministry statement.

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