The so-called “supreme court” of the "LPR" sentenced the former translator of the OSCE Monitoring Mission Maksym Petrov to 13 years in prison.
This is reported by media under the control of the Kremlin.
Petrov was recognized as a "state traitor". The occupiers claim that he was a "spy" and carried out "the task of an American curator" from the Directorate of Intelligence of the U.S. Ministry of Defense, passing allegedly secret information about the Russian-controlled forces of the "LPR".
Today, on September 19, the "supreme court” of the “LPR” gave 13 years to one more OSCE employee — Dmytro Shabanov, who was a security assistant at the Stakhanov forward patrol base of the mission. He was also recognized as a spy.
The reaction of the OSCE
In its press release, the OSCE condemned the illegal "sentences" of Petrov and Shabanov. It demands the immediate dismissal of the employees and appealed for help to international organizations and countries participating in the mission. The OSCE insists that Petrov and Shabanov were performing official duties in accordance with the mandate of all 57 member states.
- After February 24, four local members of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission were detained in occupied Donetsk and Luhansk, but one was later released. The occupiers "convicted" two of the detainees (Petrov and Shabanov), and the third has been detained for almost five months.
- The OSCE SMM was formed at the end of March 2014 at the request of Ukraine. The mission worked in Donbas and monitored the ceasefire regime in the region. At the end of April 2022, the OSCE decided to end the work of the Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, as Russia blocked its continuation.
- Some local OSCE employees who worked in Donbas were left without the organizationʼs protectorate. Politico wrote that after February, the OSCE evacuated almost 500 observers from Ukraine, and contracts with local employees were terminated.