Though the OSCE's monitors have finally been released by eastern Russian-backed separatist gunmen, the OSCE is reducing the size of its monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine out of fear of additional kidnappings. The Moscow Times reports:
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe said Monday it had scaled back monitoring operations in eastern Ukraine and frozen further deployments after eight of its observers were held hostage for a month.
The security and rights watchdog's deputy chief monitor, Alexander Hug, said all eight — four set free on Friday and four on Saturday — were unharmed and their release had been unconditional.
But he said the Vienna-based organization had shrunk its activities in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatist rebels have been fighting forces of the Kiev government since Russia's annexation of Crimea in March.
Explosions can be heard in the background, followed, at the very end of the video, with air raid sirens.
While we still can't confirm any of the individual videos, these match reports we've been hearing for over an hour that the town is being shelled.
A DNR spokesman says that the shelling began about two and a half hours ago and at least one person has been killed.