Militants deny access to OSCE observers 

KYIV – Pro-Russian militants of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic have denied access to monitors from the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to the two-kilometer zone on the border with the Russian Federation, according to the Presidential Administration’s spokesman on issues related to the anti-terrorist operation. The “LPR Cossack” commander in Sverdlovsk has announced that all border checkpoints between Ukraine and Russia have been transferred to the hands of the LPR members, while the freedom of movement for the observers will be limited to the territories 15 kilometers away from the border, said Col. Oleksandr Motuzyanyk during a press briefing on May 16. He reported that Russia-backed militants continued to use heavy arms banned by the Minsk agreements. Most ceasefire violations occurred in the area of the Donetsk airport and in the outskirts of Horlivka, as well as in the areas around Shyrokyne, Shchastia and Stanytsia Luhanska. (Ukraine Crisis Media Center)