OSCE: ‘There’s not a single undamaged home left in Debaltseve’

Observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) have visited Debaltseve, the site of intense fighting in eastern Ukraine, and announced a major humanitarian disaster in the city.

“There’s not a single undamaged home left in Debaltseve; people there are without heating or electricity, and they can’t even buy food and water,” OSCE representative Irina Gudyma reported, saying the sound of incoming and outgoing artillery fire is still audible throughout the city.

Alexander Hug, deputy head of the OSCE’s monitoring mission, said observers spent 30 minutes in Debaltseve on February 21, hearing “roughly 100 outgoing and several incoming shots.”

“Our workers were able to visit the city yesterday. Today we canceled a return visit, because the Donetsk separatists’ defense ministry says there is a threat to the safety of our observers,” Gudyma said.

Since early January, Debaltseve has been the center of eastern Ukraine’s most intense fighting. On February 17, separatists launched an offensive, ultimately capturing the city. On February 18, Kiev withdrew its remaining soldiers. According to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, the retreat was orderly and planned.

See also: Surviving Debaltseve — Pictures from the city at the heart of the war