Pros
For those who work in the east, you are really along the front line. The situation is quite similar to a UN military observer mission. There is a decent amount of leave. Board and lodging allowance [BLA] is comparable to UN mission subsistence allowance [MSA]
Cons
Most people are on seconded contracts, so their overall salary and benefits depend greatly on their national governments. Some countries pay nothing but the BLA is much more than the average salary at home and the BLA goes a long way for them. Some countries pay the equivalent to what a civil servant, diplomat or police officer would make. Indeed, they may be seconding such people. Others, like Canada, pay a small honorarium, that is a fraction of what a civil makes. The mission makes poor use of its people. Often, very incompetent people are put in senior positions, principally for the sake of gender but also sometimes for "national balance". Many monitors are treated as cannon fodder by their countries, without many benefits or systems for redress, even though they are the ones risking theirs lives. Since the Mission insists that the armored SUVs be driven by a monitor [2 per car] and only those with a C license can drive, usually the people with knowledge and experience are driving the cars and the lesser experienced are leading the patrols. Most of the female monitors refuse to drive the armoured cars even if they have a C license [as all North American and British drivers automatically do] and quickly ask for an inside job away from the frontline. Nonetheless, there are constant annoying gender sessions on political correctness [as in a totalitarian state] The Mission monitors issues of "human dimension" but has almost zero capacity to do anything about it. The freedom of movement is often very limited on the separatist side of the frontline, They can often be very threatening. For those patrolling the frontline, you have to be able to deal with small arms and artillery exchanges taking place nearby. Most of the leadership in Kiev has no previous mission experience. The people working in the teams in the west are like in a different mission with far less risk and responsibility. Preference is given to females in getting these positions. Though this mission may be a good introduction to missions for someone starting out or perhaps something to do for someone on a pension, it is kind of a dead end for professionals still in the prime of their careers.