OSCE mission to Ukraine seeks safe access to conflict area in east

A member of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic forces gestures as he sits with others on an armored vehicle on the roadside near the site of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 plane crash outside the village of Hrabove in Donetsk region, Ukraine, July 17, 2015. REUTERS/Kazbek Basaev

KIEV (Reuters) - The OSCE's special mission to Ukraine on Tuesday made a fresh appeal to all sides in the military conflict in Ukraine's east to guarantee safe conditions for its monitors after one of its officers was wounded during an exchange of fire.

"We have come under fire countless times... despite the fact that all sides know about our presence," Alexander Hug, the deputy head of the OSCE's monitoring mission (SMM) said at a televised briefing.