Fearing of Russian Troops Invasion, OSCE Monitoring Mission Staff Withdrawn From Eastern Ukraine

JAKARTA - Staff of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which carries out a situation monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine, began withdrawing from the rebel-held city of Donetsk on Sunday as fears of a possible Russian invasion grew.

A Reuters journalist was quoted as saying on February 14 saw several armored cars loading suitcases and leaving the mission headquarters.

The OSCE said in a statement, "certain participating states" have notified their citizens on missions to leave in the next few days. It did not name the country, but said the mission would continue its work.

A diplomatic source said 160 OSCE staff were brought out of Ukraine, including Dutch, Canadian, Slovak, and Albanian nationals. That number could not immediately be confirmed by other sources.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine's presidential chief of staff, declined to comment on what he said were OSCE matters.

Separately, a spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry criticized the US move, saying the mission gave in to what he described as a "military psychosis" fueled by Washington.

The official, Maria Zakharova, urged the OSCE leadership to prevent attempts to "manipulate the mission" saying its monitoring was needed now more than ever.

Russia and the OSCE have had disputes in the past over eastern Ukraine. Moscow refused to allow another OSCE mission to continue monitoring the border between rebel-held areas in eastern Ukraine and Russia in September. Pro-Russian separatists blocked his monitors at their hotel in Donetsk for a week in October.

Danish OSCE monitors also left Donetsk, a diplomatic source said.

In all, 21 OSCE monitors left the rebel-held town, with more than 30 others also planning to withdraw from nearby government-held areas, diplomatic sources said.

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has been deployed in eastern Ukraine since 2014, when war broke out between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels. Kyiv says more than 14.000 people have died.

Meanwhile, two sources told Reuters the United States decided to withdraw its staff from Ukraine, while Britain moved its monitors from rebel-held areas to areas under government control.

The United States and others have urged their citizens to leave Ukraine immediately, to avoid the threat of a Russian invasion, saying an attack could occur at any time.

As for Russia, which has been building up military power in the north, east, and south of Ukraine, it has rejected the idea it would attack and accused Western countries of spreading lies and hysteria.