This text was sent to the OSMF Board with a request to provide information on the current state of affairs related to the previously filed complaint.

Good day to all OSMF Board members.

Ukrainian OSM community has got word from the secretary of OSMF Board that our appeal was being considered. Unfortunately, aside from this message and its copy in \lists as well as some personal tweets from separate members of the Board we are yet to see any information on the progress of this issue in any official sources commonly used for covering OSMF activities, like the blog, official OSM account on Facebook, official twitter - @openstreetmap or @OSMFoundation.

Considering recent developing events concerning Crimea, such as severe breach of the law of the sea by Russian forces in the Black Sea near Kerch strait, using lethal force to attack ships in neutral waters and taking Ukrainian sailors as prisoners of war, we are deeply concerned by this lack of information about the progress and further plans. Moreover, continuous actions of some DWG members blocking Ukrainian users suggest that they are biased towards Ukrainian OSM members and abuse their privileges to support edit war. The primary mission of DWG is to prevent vandalism, yet blocked users are not vandals but members of OSM community protecting the internationally recognized borders of their home country in accordance to OSM policy and international law. Additionally, CWG chose to accuse members of Ukrainian community instead of sharing and spreading information on the problem in a true spirit of OSM community, and this hints at trying to make decisions internally. Finally, after displeased Facebook users began leaving negative comments about the incident, CWG decided to wipe the comments page (that decision was mentioned in personal twitter of one of CWG members - coincidentally, a Russian citizen) instead of explaining the issue and distributing truthful and up-to-date information. We believe these actions do not help in stopping the conflict but, on the contrary, provoke an increase in hostilities as well as damage OSM reputation as an open community-driven project.

Ukrainian community expects all OSMF bodies to act in OSM’s best interests, showing respect for Ukrainian members of the community and Ukraine itself, as well as for all the other members participating in OSM. We firmly believe that full transparency of the progress on this issue and its proper coverage in OSMF blog, Facebook page and in Twitter will greatly help in resolving the problem and set an example for all to follow. We also kindly ask you to reply to the letter from Ukraine embassy in the UK and show them that OSMF makes every effort to treat the issue carefully and seriously.

Ukrainian OSM community.

PS As for us, we publish this statement in https://osm-ua.github.io/blog/ to ensure full transparency on our part and show that we are always open for dialogue.