OSCE extends mandate of monitoring mission in Ukraine

KIEV, March 22 (Xinhua) -- The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has extended the mandate of its special monitoring mission in Ukraine by another year, Ukrainian authorities said Thursday.

The OSCE observers will monitor and report on the situation in Ukraine until March 31, 2019, Ukraine's permanent mission to the international organizations in Vienna said on Twitter.

The OSCE sent its special observer mission to Ukraine in March 2014 at the request of the Ukrainian government.

Currently, more than 700 OSCE observers from 44 countries are deployed in Ukraine, with the majority of them monitoring the security situation in the conflict-hit eastern region of Donbas.

The conflict in Donbas started in April 2014 after the government forces launched offensives to regain control over the cities and towns seized by the armed groups, which had declared independence from Kiev.

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