Before the clashes near Maryinka in Donetsk Oblast, observers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission noticed the movement of a significant number of heavy weapons in the territories of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. The weapons were also transferred during the clashes. According to observers, they were transferred to the west, to the contact line. This is stated in the OSCE SMM report for June 3. Observers recall that Maryinka is under the control of the Ukrainian military. The clash ended early Wednesday evening, the report says.

The OSCE representatives described how, from 22:30 on 2 June to 05:30 June, in the Tekstilshchik area of Donetsk, 14 km east of Maryinka, they observed armoured vehicles, including four tanks, military trucks, artillery pieces advancing westwards, and detailed their number, type and time of observation. From 04:30 to 04:40, observers from the same location heard approximately 100 artillery salvos fired from approximately 1-5 km north-west of their observation post.

From 4.30 to 5.00, observers located in the center of Donetsk heard several outgoing volleys and about 100 incoming volleys.

Between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. a mobile group of observers 6-9 km east of Maryinka recorded the advance of seven T-64 tanks to the west and about 20 outgoing salvoes from mortars and Grad launchers.

Between 10:45 and 12:11, the mission made repeated attempts to contact senior DPR officials, including the "prime minister," the "speaker of the legislative assembly," and the "defense minister," to negotiate a ceasefire in Maryinka. They were either unavailable or unwilling to speak to the observers, the report says.

At 15:00, the mission received written notification from the Ukrainian Defense Ministry that heavy weapons on the Ukrainian side would be pulled back to the contact line due to a "real threat" that arose in connection with the battle near Maryinka, the report also says. It also mentions Kyiv's statement that heavy weapons had already been used out of necessity, "to repel an attack from the DPR."

Also at 15:00 later, a representative of the Russian Armed Forces informed the SMM that the ceasefire near Maryinka would begin at 17:00. At 21:00, he also reported to the mission that the situation in the Maryinka area was calm.

OSCE observers describe the transfer of heavy DPR equipment to the line of fire