The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said today it would double the number of its observers in Ukraine to 500 to oversee a fragile ceasefire between Kiev and pro-Russian rebels.
The observers will be deployed over the next two and a half months, said Ertugrul Apakan, who oversees observers at the Vienna-based pan-European body.
The deployment is part of an OSCE-brokered truce signed 13 days ago between officials in Kiev and Ukrainian rebel leaders that has eased deadly violence in restive eastern Ukraine.
"The monitoring of the ceasefire is a new job," Apakan said.
He said the organisation planned to deploy surveillance drones along Ukraine's border with Russia, and that monitors would be assisted by around 400 staff providing logistical support.
The OSCE aims to have "more people" that are "more mobile, more flexible" in eastern Ukraine, Apakan added, where five months of fighting has claimed nearly 2,900 lives.
