Weekly update from the OSCE Observer Mission at the Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk, for the period 30 July – 5 August 2014

This update is for media and the general public.

SUMMARY

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKY, Russian Federation, 6 August 2014 - This report details the arrival of the Observer Mission (OM) in the Russian Federation and the installation of the Mission in Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy. Also noted is the start of observation at the border checkpoints, fighting close to the Gukovo border checkpoint, and the crossing of 12 and then 437 Ukrainian servicemen into the Russian Federation.

DETAIL

The decision of the OSCE Permanent Council about the deployment tasks observers “operating under the principles of impartiality and transparency, with monitoring and reporting on the situation at the checkpoints of Donetsk and Gukovo, as well as on the movements across the border.”

OSCE Observer Mission’s arrival, establishment and observation work

The first eight OM mission members (first responders) arrived in Rostov-on-Don, in the Russian Federation on Tuesday, 29 July. The next day, 30 July, the OM moved to Kamensk-Shakhtinkiy (150 km north of Rostov-on-Don) and established its mission base there and briefly visited the border checkpoints of Donetsk and Gukovo for the first time.

On 30 July the OM’s two Observer Teams started their work on each border checkpoint for an average of eight hours per shift at different times of the day, evening and night. When the situation required Observer Teams to stay longer, they did. This was the case during the transfer of the Ukrainian servicemen (see below), when Observer Teams stayed on site for 35 hours non-stop. With only two Observer Teams, the OM has not yet been able to observe activities at the border checkpoints on a 24/7 basis.

The OM will receive additional observers by the end of the week and will thus be able to observe activities at the border checkpoints for longer hours. It is hoped that the OM will reach its full capacity of 16 civilian monitors led by a Chief Observer and accompanied by three administrative staff, by the end of August and then will be able to observe the situation at the border checkpoint of Gukovo and Donetsk on a 24/7 basis.

The Russian authorities have been very supportive in assisting the OM to establish its mission base and fulfil its mandate of observing activities and movements at the two border checkpoints. The OM is in constant contact with the Border Guard and the regional administration authorities.

Observation at the Gukovo border checkpoint

The Gukovo border checkpoint has been closed for several weeks and therefore activities on site have been very limited. Fighting between Ukrainian troops and separatists has been going on very close to the Gukovo border checkpoint in the past week. The OM observed several shells falling in the territory of the Russian Federation (two on Saturday,2 August, and two on Monday, 4 August, early morning), two of which fell directly on the Gukovo border checkpoint, causing minor damage (see Spot Report of 3 August 2014). The Observer Mission was not able to confirm who was responsible for the shelling.

Observation at the Donetsk border checkpoint

According to Russian authorities, the Donetsk border checkpoint is the busiest in the Rostov region. It operates 24/7 and accounts for approximately 50 to 60 percent of all the cross-border movement in the Rostov region. This is due to the fact that several border checkpoints are currently closed (including Gukovo) and ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine has forced many Ukrainians to seek refuge in the Russian Federation.

The OM observed a high flow of pedestrians and cars, and according to civilians entering the Russian Federation, there are hundreds of cars and at times up to a kilometre of pedestrians waiting to cross despite the border checkpoint working at full capacity.

On the two first days of its observation (31 July and 1 August), the OM observed several groups of ten to twelve young men in military-style dress with backpacks going to Ukraine from the Russian Federation and coming from Ukraine. In some instances, some of the young men coming back from Ukraine were visibly lightly wounded and on two occasions the OM observed a flag of the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic” on some young men’s clothes. The OM did not observe any weapons. After 1 August the OM has not seen such groups.

The OM also witnessed regular evacuations in ambulances of wounded civilians, Ukrainian servicemen and separatists to hospitals in the region through both Gukovo and Donetsk border checkpoints.

Assisting Ukrainian servicemen to cross the Gukovo border checkpoint

On 1 August the OM was contacted by Ukrainian servicemen (military and border guards) who asked for the OM’s assistance to facilitate the crossing of 12 and then 437 servicemen into the Russian Federation. The crossings occurred respectively in the nights of 2/3 August and 3/4 August (See Report of 4 August 2014). The servicemen clearly requested to be taken back to Ukraine through a safe border checkpoint as soon as possible. This request was co-ordinated with the Russian authorities, Ukrainian servicemen and the relevant authorities in Kyiv. On Monday, 4 August, Russian and Ukrainian authorities had already started the process of transferring the Ukrainian servicemen back to Ukraine but it was temporarily stopped when the first convoy was attacked while transiting in Ukraine on Tuesday 5 August, resulting in four servicemen wounded.

[Note: according to the information made available in the afternoon of Wednesday, 6 August, the transfer has been resumed and another group of 192 Ukraine servicemen was being transferred to Ukraine.]