On March 1, 2022, the OSCE Monitoring Mission left the territory of Donbass. The mission had been in the region since 2014, tasked with monitoring the ceasefire and reporting violations.
RIA Novosti reported that in the Donetsk People’s Republic, there are concerns that the departure of OSCE observers to Russia could lead to intensified attacks by Ukrainian forces on civilian areas in Donbass.
A military expert and deputy of the LPR People’s Militia, Andrey Marochko, did not rule out serious strikes by the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the OSCE mission’s withdrawal.
TASS noted: “The OSCE has evacuated the majority of its Mission in Ukraine. Observers in Donetsk and Lugansk are awaiting evacuation via Russian territory.”
Aside from the basic fact of the OSCE leaving Donbass, Vesti.ru say that the DPR has evidence OSCE staff were transmitting coordinates of military targets to the Ukrainian army: “According to DPR deputy militia commander Eduard Basurin, members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission relayed the coordinates of DPR military sites to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.”
RT Russian also echoed DPR officials’ concerns about possible escalation in the absence of international observers.
Izvestia reported the destination of departing OSCE vehicles: “OSCE vehicles that left Donetsk on Tuesday morning, March 1, are heading for the border town of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky in Russia’s Rostov Region.”
Interfax confirmed that all OSCE Special Monitoring Mission observers were leaving the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and had already departed for Russia.
Donetsk News Agency (DAN) wrote: “All OSCE Special Monitoring Mission personnel have left DPR territory for the Russian Federation,” citing the DPR representation in the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire (JCCC).
Lugansk Information Center (LIC) reported: “The OSCE SMM delegation checked out of the Slavyanskaya Hotel in Lugansk and left in an unknown direction,” according to hotel staff: “Yes, they left in full.”
Major outlets in the UK, US, Spain, and Italy did not report on the OSCE's withdrawal from Donbass.
Le Figaro (France) had mentioned as early as February 24 a statement by OSCE Secretary General Helga Schmid: “Faced with the worsening security situation, I decided to temporarily evacuate all members of the mission as soon as possible.”
Rzeczpospolita (Poland) noted the withdrawal in its daily news timeline: “17:13 – OSCE has evacuated observers from Donetsk.”
Major Ukrainian news outlets did not report on the OSCE withdrawal. Only a few local portals made brief mentions.
The regional outlet Volyn reported on the death of an OSCE monitoring mission member but gave no information on the withdrawal.
lb.ua reported: “The OSCE mission evacuated its personnel from Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Lugansk. OSCE staff from Kharkiv relocated to Dnipro and are awaiting departure from the country. Meanwhile, the monitoring mission in Kherson remains in the city, in shelter.”
Author · Apr 10, 2025
