News and press releases

The fifth annual Model OSCE Conference was organized by the OSCE Mission to Moldova from 26 to 29 October 2017 in Vadul lui Voda, bringing together 35 students from Balti, Chisinau, Cahul, Comrat and Tiraspol to participate in a simulation exercise that engages youth in conflict resolution, thereby honing their negotiation skills...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region between the evenings of 27 and 28 October compared with the previous reporting period and more between the evenings of 28 and 29 October compared with the previous 24 hours. In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations between the evenings of 27 and 28 October compared with the previous reporting period and a similar number of ceasefire violations between the evenings of 28 and 29 October compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission followed up on reports of a casualty in Donetsk city. The SMM observed fresh damage to civilian properties caused by shelling in Marinka, Avdiivka, Pikuzy, Oleksandrivka and Sakhanka. The Mission continued monitoring all three disengagement areas; it recorded a ceasefire violation inside the Zolote disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere, including near Metalist (twice).* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Luhanske and in Bakhmut. It facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance to power lines between Novozvanivka and Troitske. The SMM visited a border area not under government control. The Mission continued monitoring the administrative boundary line between Kherson region and Crimea. With respect to ongoing local elections, the SMM monitored the security situation around polling stations in Lviv region and government-controlled areas of Donetsk region, where it observed calm situations.

MINSK, 27 October 2017 –Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its Working Groups in Minsk on 27 October 2017:

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Petrivske disengagement area and near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. Its access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere, including in Siedove near the border with the Russian Federation.* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in Bakhmut and Nyzhnoteple. It facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of essential infrastructure in Shchastia and Artema. The SMM visited a border area not under government control.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM continued monitoring all three disengagement areas; it recorded a projectile in flight, assessed as inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere, including at a checkpoint near Olenivka.* The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Illinka. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance to the thermal power plant in Shchastia and high-voltage power lines near Donetskyi. In Kyiv, the SMM followed up on reports of an explosion which killed two people and injured three others and on reports of a fire in a building. Also in Kyiv, it monitored the ongoing gathering in front of the national Parliament building.

On 26 October 2017 at 06:55 (Moscow time), the sixty-eighth Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 17 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guards and customs services prior to their crossing into Ukraine. All 17 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 14:18 on 26 October.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM continued monitoring all three disengagement areas and recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement areas. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near Verkhnoshyrokivske. In Verkhnoshyrokivske, men in military-style clothing pointed a heavy machine-gun at an SMM patrol stopped at a checkpoint. The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Miusynsk and Luhansk city. The Mission facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance to the thermal power plant in Shchastia, water pipelines near Maiorsk and in Horlivka, and the gas distribution station in Dovhe. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored the ongoing gathering in front of the national Parliament building.