A convoy of international monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was shot at by "uniformed personnel" in east Ukraine, the organisation said today.
The OSCE said that a uniformed man on the back of a flat-bed cargo truck fired two shots in the direction of their vehicles as they were driving on yesterday afternoon near the government-held town of Mariinka, some 15 kilometres (nine miles) west of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
"The bullets struck about two metres (yards) from the second OSCE vehicle," the statement said.
"Staff travelling in this vehicle heard sharp sounds originating from the road or bullet fragments impacting on their car," the statement said, adding that the convoy then immediately left the area.
The OSCE said it was the first "direct" shot deliberately fired at their observers during the mission.
The incident followed another a day earlier when a warning shot was fired towards an OSCE vehicle from a Ukrainian checkpoint near the frontline hotspot of Debaltseve, a spokesman for the mission said.
The OSCE has teams on the ground in east Ukraine monitoring a nominal ceasefire between government forces and Kremlin-backed rebels that has stopped fighting along much of the frontline but failed to halt bombardments at strategic flashpoints.
A representative of Russia's foreign ministry called yesterday's shooting incident "outrageous" and called on Ukraine to ensure the security of observers on the ground, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
A Ukrainian military spokesman said it was a "provocation" by pro-Russia rebels pretending to be Ukrainian forces.
Last week, Russia lashed out at the OSCE for alleged bias after monitors reported seeing convoys of unmarked convoys of military hardware heading through rebel-territory to the frontline.
"We get the impression that its efforts are directed at helping and supporting only one side in the conflict, the official authorities in Kiev," the Russian foreign ministry said.
"Such policies from the mission's leadership undermine trust in its work.
