News and press releases

On 22 February 2015 at 13:15hrs, an explosion occurred at a pro-Maidan march commemorating the anniversary of February 2014 events in Kharkiv (during which three people died in demonstrations), outside the Palace of Sports on Marshal Zhukova Street (7km east of the city centre). The SMM, who were monitoring the commemoration, heard the blast and felt shockwaves from their position 100m away. The SMM arrived at the scene of the explosion at 13:20hrs, and saw two dead individuals covered with Ukrainian flags and casualties being attended to. The SMM noted the explosion caused no damage to nearby buildings or windows. At 14:45hrs, a police spokesperson and a representative of the prosecutor’s office gave a press conference at the scene, confirming that an explosive device killed two (one police officer, and one civilian taking part in the march) and injured eleven, six of whom were police officers.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. The SMM, based on its monitoring – which was restricted by third parties and security considerations – noted that fighting continued in and around Donetsk airport and Shyrokyne and, to a lesser extent, in a number of other locations.

SUMMARY On 20 February 2015 at 07:00hrs (Moscow time), a Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 15 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guard and customs services. All the vehicles crossed back into the Russian Federation (RF) at 16:05hrs on 20 February.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. The SMM, based on its monitoring – which was restricted by third parties and by security considerations – noted a limited number of ceasefire violations in the Luhansk region and heard intense outgoing shelling in Donetsk city.

VIENNA, 20 February 2015 – Nearly 250 parliamentarians from more than 50 OSCE participating States held an impassioned and at-times heated debate today on the crisis in Ukraine, the Organization’s responses and the status of the Minsk package of measures aimed at a resolution...

YEREVAN, 20 February 2015 – The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Ambassadors Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, James Warlick of the United States of America, and Pierre Andrieu of France) traveled to the region on February 16-19. They were joined by the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk...

VIENNA, 19 February 2015- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić today met his Special Representative in Ukraine Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini, OSCE Chief Monitor in Ukraine Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan and OSCE Chief Observer at the Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk Paul Picard, who informed the Chair about their activities and the challenges they face in their work...