A member of the surveillance mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Ukraine died on Tuesday in a “bombing” in Kharkov, the second Ukrainian city, this international body said on Wednesday.
“Maryna Fenina, a national member of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (SMM) was killed in a shelling in Kharkiv yesterday, March 1” when “he was going to buy provisions for his family in a city that has become a war zone”states the organization on its website.
The OSCE had ordered on Thursday night, shortly after the Russian invasion broke out, the emergency departure of its observation mission. However, the deceased person was a local worker of that mission.
“In Kharkiv and other cities and towns of Ukraine missiles, shells and rockets are hitting residential buildings and urban centers, killing and injuring innocent civilians: women, men and children alike,” Zbigniew Rau, head of Polish diplomacy and acting chairman of the OSCE, said in a statement, and its general secretary, Helga Maria Schmid.
“We strongly condemn the intensification of shelling in urban centers that has caused deaths and injuries among civilians and reiterate our call on the Russian Federation for an immediate cessation of hostilities and to engage in a meaningful dialogue,” they add.