Ukraine expels JCCC officer for giving intel to separatists
Colonel Vladimir Cheban informed separatists about the routes of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission
The Security Service of Ukraine expelled the head of the Russian office of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of Cease-fire, Colonel Vladimir Cheban.
As was reported on the website of the agency, Russian Colonel supplied the deputy staff commander of the so-called first army corps of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Pepublic called "Yakub" with the monthly schedules and routes of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission drones.
"Based on this information, militants could hide their firing positions and locations of heavy weaponry and equipment from international observers," the statement read.
The SBU announced its decision that Cheban must be forcibly returned to his home country and will be banned from re-entering Ukraine for five years. He was taken to the border with Russia and the Kharkiv region accompanied by SBU officers and left Ukrainian territory.
The special service also published the audio recording of Cheban’s conversation with "Yakub".
The Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) was established in September 2014 to control the implementation of ceasefire agreement. It consists of Ukrainian and Russian servicemen.
Russian servicemen, who are members of the JCCC, have a status of tourists in Ukraine. By the end of 2015, the JCCC had 74 Russian officers, 34 of them permanently based on Ukraine-controlled territories.