News and press releases

The SMM recorded on 28 March fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, but more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, compared with 27 March. The Mission followed up on a report of a civilian casualty in Yasynuvata. The Mission monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted...

YEREVAN, 29 March 2017- The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stephane Visconti of France and Richard Hoagland of the United States of America), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, traveled to Baku (March 11), Yerevan (March 27) and Nagorno-Karabakh (March 28)...

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 increased at both BCPs. The sixty-first Russian convoy of 15 vehicles crossed into Ukraine and returned through the Donetsk Border Crossing Point...

At 11:07 on 28 March, an SMM patrol composed of six members and two armoured vehicles approached a compound where the SMM had previously observed armed “DPR” members, at the eastern edge of “DPR”-controlled Kozatske (36km north-east of Mariupol). (See SMM Daily Report 11 February 2017.)...

The SMM recorded on 27 March more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, and fewer ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, compared with 26 March. The Mission observed damage caused by recent shelling to houses and civilian infrastructure in Avdiivka, Popasna and Vesela Hora. The Mission monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM visited one border area currently not controlled by the Government. The blockade of railway routes across the contact line in Buhas, Hirske and Bakhmut continued. In Kharkiv region the SMM continued monitoring the situation following a fire and a series of explosions at an ammunition storage depot...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region on 25 March compared with 24 March and more ceasefire violations on 26 March compared with 25 March. In Luhansk region the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations (all of which were explosions) on 25 March compared with 24 March, and fewer explosions on 26 March compared with 25 March. The Mission followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Pokrovsk and Avdiivka and observed damage caused by recent shelling to houses in Zaichenko, Dokuchaievsk, Orikhove, Molodizhne and Katerynivka. The Mission monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted...

At 12:45 on 26 March, an SMM patrol of four mission members in two armoured vehicles stopped 500m north-east of government-controlled Orikhove-Donetske (44km north-west of Luhansk). At about 13:10, a couple minutes after launching a mid-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the SMM observed another UAV almost directly above the patrol’s position, approaching from the south-south-west at a height of approximately 100 metres. The UAV was slightly larger than the SMM UAV and darker in colour, with a larger wingspan and vertical wingtips. It sounded like it had an electric motor. The SMM immediately began the landing procedure for its own UAV. The other UAV flew over the SMM patrol’s position, circled three times – steadily gaining altitude – and then departed to the west...