News and press releases

KYIV, 29 March 2018 – Alexander Hug, the Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), will hold a news briefing on Friday via video link from eastern Ukraine.

On 29 March 2018 at 06:50 (Moscow time), the seventy-third Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 16 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guards and customs services prior to their crossing into Ukraine. All 16 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 14:26 on 29 March.

ROME, VIENNA, 28 March 2018 –– In light of the 26 March events in northern Kosovo and subsequent developments, the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office and the OSCE Secretary General call on all sides to refrain from provocations and re-engage in constructive dialogue.

KYIV, 28 March 2018- The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) today re-introduced the use of long-range unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), which will operate over Donetsk and Luhansk regions...

GENEVA, Switzerland, 28 March 2018- The 43rd round of the Geneva International Discussions has just concluded...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed damage caused by shelling to civilian properties in residential areas of Sakhanka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and spotted military hardware, as well as previously seen mines inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including at border crossing points near Dovzhanske, Izvaryne, Sievernyi, and to Siedove (all close to the border with the Russian Federation), as well as to a heavy weapons holding area in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Lozuvatske, Pidlisne and Sievierodonetsk. The Mission continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station; it facilitated maintenance works to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema. In Kharkiv, the SMM saw flowers and candles laid outside the Consulate of the Russian Federation to commemorate the victims of the shopping mall fire in Kemerovo in the Russian Federation...

CHISINAU, 28 March 2018 – Franco Frattini completed his first visit to Moldova today in his capacity as the Special Representative of the Italian OSCE Chairperson-in-Office for the Transdniestrian Settlement Process. Meeting with high-level Moldovan officials and the leadership in Tiraspol, Frattini discussed ways to advance the settlement process within the parameters of the agreed end state endorsed by all 57 OSCE participating States, including the Republic of Moldova...