OSCE monitoring drone fired in southeastern Ukraine

A drone, conducting observations for the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in southeastern Ukraine, has come under fire, the SMM has said in a statement, Sputnik reported.

"At approximately 14:00hrs an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was in an area three kilometres South-East of Pavlopil (25km North-East of Mariupol), an area of on-going fighting. It spotted a military-style truck with six people around it. Almost immediately eight to 10 rounds – assessed to have been from a ZU-23 (a 23mm anti-aircraft gun) – were fired at the SMM UAV. None hit the UAV," the statement, released Wednesday, said.

"Twenty minutes later, four kilometres to the north-west, the UAV spotted three tanks and an APC. Almost two hours after the firing incident, at a location approximately seven kilometres south-east of the location of the firing incident, the SMM UAV spotted two tanks," the statement added.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko officially authorized the OSCE to deploy drones to monitor the implementation of the ceasefire between Kiev forces and independence supporters in southeastern Ukraine in September.

The first two UAVs arrived in Ukraine on October 6. The first flight of OSCE drones was completed on October 23.