On July 22, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, while attempting to cross at the non-government-controlled checkpoint near Novoazovsk, Donetsk Oblast, observed multiple “military type” vehicles near the checkpoint. These observations, along with statements from the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) and social media reports within a few days of the SMM’s observations, indicate a possible Russian military buildup along Ukraine’s eastern border.

In violation of the Minsk agreements, the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DNR) denied the SMM access to the Novoazovsk checkpoint, even though it continued to allow other civilian traffic through the same location. The SMM stated that a senior-level member of the DNR intelligence/reconnaissance service cited orders to deny access to the unarmed civilian observing mission.

Video about Ukrainian border security efforts, from the Facebook page of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. (Source: facebook.com)

As often reported by the SMM, civilian traffic from government-controlled areas to non-government-controlled areas is fairly frequent. For example, there are regular marshrutkas (shuttle-like minibuses) that travel from Taganrog, Rostov Oblast, Russia, (near Pokrovskoye and Rostov-on-Don) to Mariupol, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, stopping at the international border crossing point in Maksimov, Rostov Oblast, Russia, and going through the checkpoint that the SMM was stopped at in Novoazovsk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine.