News and press releases

At approximately 12:40hrs on 26 July, an SMM patrol comprised of two vehicles was caught in mortar and automatic grenade launcher fire while trying to cross the contact line from the “Lugansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”)-controlled side of Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk) to the government-controlled side. This crossing had been agreed and co-ordinated beforehand with both the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the “LPR”.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. Fighting continued at and around Donetsk airport and in areas to the east and north-east of Mariupol. The SMM observed weapons’ movements in “Lugansk People’s Republic”- and in government-controlled areas, in violation of respective withdrawal lines.

VIENNA, 22 July 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today welcomed the transparency and openness of the process to create the draft Information Security Concept of Ukraine. She also presented a legal analysis of the document commissioned by her Office...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements.” Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. After a volatile weekend, the SMM did not record any ceasefire violations in the monitored areas at Donetsk airport and in and around Donetsk city. The security situation in Luhansk region remained relatively calm. The SMM followed up on one explosion having occurred in the night of 19-20 July in Odessa. Activities of the Right Sector noticeably decreased across Ukraine.

MINSK, 21 July 2015 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić, has stressed the need to seize the momentum of today's agreement on the withdrawal of tanks and certain weapons under 100 mm calibre for further advancement of the process during his first visit to Minsk today.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements.” Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. The SMM continued to observe ceasefire violations at and around Donetsk airport. The SMM observed shelling in Donetsk city centre for the first time in several months and observed the aftermath of the shelling in residential neighbourhoods there, while also hearing reports and observing the effects of shelling in and around government-controlled Avdiivka to the north. The situation in Luhansk region remained relatively calm.

VIENNA, 20 July 2015 – Senior representatives of journalists’ professional unions from Russia and Ukraine today discussed and endorsed the key recommendations by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media that followed the conference “Journalists’ Safety, Media Freedom and Pluralism in Times of Conflict” held in Vienna on 15 and16 June 2015.