News and press releases

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer Luhansk region. • Small arms were fired in the vicinity of the SMM, and other civilians, in Donetsk city and of an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle near Zolote. • The SMM followed up on a boy injured from the detonation of unexploded ordnance in Holmivskyi. • The Mission saw fresh craters near Vodiane and Molodizhne, and again saw the presence of mines near Vodiane, Travneve, Holmivskyi and Nyzhnie Lozove. • The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to water pipelines in Luhansk region and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure in Donetsk region. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewere.*

KYIV, 26 June 2019 – The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, Yaşar Halit Çevik, welcomed the willingness expressed at a recent meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group to disengage from the agreed area at Stanytsia Luhanska, and reiterated the Mission’s full readiness to monitor the disengagement process...

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. A girl was injured by shelling in Horlivka. It saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line, including in training areas in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region. The SMM saw anti-tank mines near Krasnohorivka and Vodiane, some for the first time. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. Its freedom of movement was also restricted on a road near non-government-controlled Staropetrivske and at a checkpoint of the armed formations near Novoazovsk.

Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 21 and 22 June the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Between the evenings of 22 and 23 June, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. Two men were injured by shrapnel in Horlivka and Vesele, and a woman was injured and a house damaged by gunfire in Chermalyk. The SMM saw fresh damage from gunfire to a residential house in Pikuzy. Small-arms fire was assessed as aimed at an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle on two occasions near Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and Pervomaisk, including in the vicinity of a patrol. The SMM saw an anti-personnel mine, tailfins from exploded mortar rounds and remnants of exploded grenades between Popasna and Pervomaisk, some for the first time. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. The SMM continued to follow up on hardship faced by civilians at checkpoints along the contact line. It saw the body of a man who reportedly died of natural causes while queuing at the entry-exit checkpoint north of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. The Mission saw people apply for “LPR passports” in Kadiivka to be able to later apply for Russian Federation passports. The SMM monitored the Kyiv Pride 2019 march in Kyiv. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. Its freedom of movement was also restricted at checkpoints of the armed formations near Zaichenko, Yuzhna Lomuvatka and Verkhnoshyrokivske.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM observed two residential houses damaged by shelling in government-controlled Chermalyk. The SMM observed about 160 explosions and about 4,600 bursts and shots of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire in areas south-east of government-controlled Popasna. The SMM saw 30 multiple launch rocket systems in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. Its freedom of movement was also denied in non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region at checkpoints near Novoazovsk, Naberezhne and in Kozatske.*

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It saw military presence inside the Petrivske disengagement area. The SMM saw self-propelled howitzers in violation of withdrawal lines near Starolaspa. It spotted anti-tank mines near Marinka, some for the first time. The Mission saw a fresh crater near a petrol station in Khreshchatytske. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. Its freedom of movement was also denied in non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region at checkpoints near Shevchenko, Nova Marivka, and in Yasne.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. One civilian was injured by shelling in Donetsk city. The Mission saw fresh damage from shelling to facilities part of a children’s hospital in Donetsk city. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas, including multiple launch rocket systems near Miusynsk. The SMM saw for the first time anti-tank mines near Shyrokyne and unexploded ordnance near Novooleksandrivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement area and elsewhere. Its freedom of movement was also denied at checkpoints near Novoazovsk and Novolaspa, in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region...