Latest from the Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine - based on information received until 18:00 hrs, 13 May (Kyiv time)

This update is provided for the media and the public.

In Donetsk and Luhansk the situation remained volatile. The self-declared 'People's Governor' of Luhansk survived a reported assassination attempt. Other parts of Ukraine remained calm.

The situation in Kharkiv was calm.

In Starobilsk, in the northern part of Luhansk region, en route to a meeting with acting Governor Iryna Verihina, the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) was approached by a dozen pro-Ukrainian activists who wished to provide the SMM with their assessment of the situation in the town and region. Immediately afterwards, around 40 people participating in a small rally in support of the so-called “Luhansk People’s Republic” also heatedly - but peacefully - communicated their views to the SMM. After 15 minutes of discussion, the SMM left the town, promising to return in order to discuss the situation more fully. The SMM observed Ukrainian symbols (flags, banners in the Ukrainian language, trees painted in Ukrainian colours) in the northern part of Luhansk region on the way to Svatove (150 kilometres north of Luhansk, near the oblast boundary with Kharkiv), and two checkpoints manned by the Ukrainian Army and National Guard, one of which was new.

In a meeting with the spokesperson of the “South-Eastern Army”, a paramilitary unit of the separatist “People’s Republics” of Luhansk and Donetsk, the SMM learnt that the self-declared 'People's Governor', Valeriy Bolotov, had been lightly wounded in an assassination attempt on 13 May.

In Donetsk region the situation remained volatile. The SMM was held at a checkpoint just outside the city by armed men for 3 hours.

The situation in Dnipropetrovsk remained calm. The SMM saw a newly established roadblock built with sandbags in Sinelnikove (50 kilometres southeast of Dnipropetrovsk), which was manned by one person, wearing camouflage gear. 

In Kherson the general situation remained calm.

In Odesa the situation was assessed as calm. The SMM observed a meeting at Kulikove Polye where 40-60 opponents of the government and 2-3 supporters of the government gathered. About 60 police officers were present. No incidents were reported.

The western cities of Chernivtsi, Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk were calm.

In Chernivtsi the SMM met the district head of police who said that co-operation between “Self-Defense” groups and police forces had decreased. The SMM learnt that joint patrols during the night in the city, and to the border checkpoint to the Ternopil region would be staffed by regular police and members of the “Self-Defense” group.

In Lviv a representative of the Jewish community told the SMM about recent and ongoing cases of apparent discriminatory practices by local authorities. The SMM learnt that in most cases the alleged claimants did not report cases to the police either out of fear or lack of confidence in law-enforcement institutions.

In Kyiv the situation remained calm.