Article content

MOSCOW — Russia’s Foreign Ministry criticized a suggestion by an official that an international monitoring body could withdraw its observer mission from Ukraine because of safety concerns, as shooting between government troops and pro-Russian rebels continued in the region on Saturday.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe says it lost contact on Thursday with a group of five monitors in separatist eastern Ukraine. Another four-member team has been held by eastern rebels since Monday.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Russia says international monitors should stay in Ukraine, where 2 mission teams are missing Back to video

Wolfgang Ischinger, the OSCE’s negotiator on national dialogue in Ukraine, told German broadcaster ZDF this week that the monitor mission might have to withdraw if the organization fears for its employees’ lives.

But the Russian ministry said in a statement Saturday that “amid Kyiv’s intentionally intensified punitive operation in the east of the country, it is essential to step up the work of international observers.”