News and press releases

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Petrivske and near the Zolote disengagement areas. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Donske and Izvaryne. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission continued to facilitate access to the Donetsk Filtration Station for Voda Donbassa water company employees in order to keep the station operational; it heard ceasefire violations in the area despite security guarantees. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to high-voltage power lines near Almazna and to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema. In Berehove, the Mission followed up further on reports of damage to nine cars with Hungarian licence plates. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored two marches: one on the occasion of Mother’s Day and the second one on affordable housing programmes for internally displaced persons and ATO veterans...

KYIV, 15 May 2018 – Following meetings with governmental and parliamentary leaders in Kyiv, a high-level delegation from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly led by President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) stressed the need for a UN peace-keeping mission to help end the fighting in eastern Ukraine and to make full implementation of the Minsk Agreements possible. In meetings, the delegation also addressed the humanitarian consequences of the armed conflict in Donbas and urged OSCE participating States to prioritize assisting the country in its efforts to ease the plight of the up to two million internally displaced persons...

Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons decreased at both BCPs. On 8 May 2018 the seventy-fourth Russian convoy of 16 vehicles crossed into Ukraine and returned back to the Russian Federation through the Donetsk Border Crossing Point...

PARIS, 15 May 2018 – The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, met with Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Elmar Mammadyarov on 15 May.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions between the evenings of 11 and 12 May compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 12 and 13 May, it recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM followed up on reports of a civilian casualty and damage to properties from gunfire in Dokuchaievsk and a residential area in Sakhanka. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement areas and its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including again in Kozatske and at a location near the border with the Russian Federation.* It continued to facilitate access to the Donetsk Filtration Station for Voda Donbassa employees and heard ceasefire violations in the area, despite security guarantees being provided. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to power lines near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka. In Lviv, the SMM followed up on reports of an attack against members of the Roma community....

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Leonove near the border with the Russian Federation and at a heavy weapons holding area in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Avdiivka and Roty. The Mission continued to facilitate access to the Donetsk Filtration Station for Voda Donbassa water company employees; it heard ceasefire violations in the area despite security guarantees. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to high-voltage power lines near Almazna. In Kyiv, the SMM observed a group of people preventing a public discussion from taking place, and followed up on reports of vandalism to the office of a non-governmental organization. In Odessa, the SMM followed up on reports of an attack against a member of an anti-Maidan group and observed a gathering in front of the Russian Federation Consulate-General.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed fresh damage caused by shelling in a residential area of Myronivskyi. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Petrivske disengagement area, as well as near the Zolote and Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement areas. Its access remained restricted in all three areas.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission continued to facilitate access to the Donetsk Filtration Station for Voda Donbassa water company employees; it heard ceasefire violations in the area despite security guarantees. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to high-voltage power lines near Almazna and a water pumping station near Artema.