Swiss is among missing observers in Ukraine

Almost 300 OSCE observers are part of a mission sent to gather information Keystone

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) says a Swiss citizen is among the four observers it has lost contact with in the eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian militants are fighting Kiev government forces.

The 57-nation Vienna-based OSCE, which is currently headed by Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, said the team comprising a Swiss, a Turkish, an Estonian and a Danish citizen were part of a mission sent to try and ease tension and gather information in the Ukraine.

The Swiss foreign ministry confirmed the information about one of its citizens.

During a routine patrol east of the city of Donetsk the monitoring team encountered a road checkpoint on Monday at around 6pm and did not re-establish contact, a Kiev-based spokesman for the OSCE mission said.

According to the Ukrainian foreign ministry and Denmark’s Minister of Trade and Development Mogens Jensen the observers are most likely being detained by pro-Russian separatists.

At the beginning of May, pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine held seven European military observers from a separate OSCE-linked mission for eight days.

The OSCE mission consists of about 282 people, including 198 civilian international monitors from 41 OSCE countries, according to the organisation’s website.