Latest news from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received until 18:00 hrs, 5 June

This update is provided for the media and the public

The overall security situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions remained tense. No substantive change to the situation in Donetsk city, which remains calm. Barricades on city access routes are being enlarged and strengthened. The so-called 'Donetsk People’s Republic' reported fighting in the area of Mospine (6 kilometres southeast of Donetsk).Other parts of Ukraine remained calm. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the four monitors from the Donetsk team and four monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively.

In Kharkiv the situation remained calm. The SMM learnt from the regional administration that six buses with internally-displaced people (IDPs) from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions arrived on 5 June in Kharkiv. The Governor of Kharkiv stated in a communique that facilities are available in the region to welcome these people, and that 328 people were already hosted, with an overall capacity of the region to host up to 1,000 IDPs.

In the Luhansk region the situation remained tense. The general atmosphere in the city, however, appears calm. The SMM observed citizens of Luhansk going about their normal activities. In market places and shopping centres, commercial activities seemed unaffected by the recent tensions and combats.

In Donetsk the situation remained tense. Sergey Kavtaradze, special representative of the so-called 'Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Prime Minister' and member of the DPR Security Council, informed the SMM that if a video posted on You Tube on 5 June was proven to be genuine - in which a man named ‘Commander Byes’ (Ihor Bezler), based in Horlivka (20 kilometres north of Donetsk), is seen to preside over the apparent executions of two men in order to force the Ukrainian Government to release his own people - the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic's’ official position is that it would 'court martial' him and impose a sentence consistent with a 'war situation'.

In Dnipropetrovsk the situation remained calm. The SMM went to Petrikivka (42 kilometres northwest of Dnipropetrovsk) and visited a checkpoint at Kirovske (20 kilometres northwest of Dnipropetrovsk) manned by two traffic police officers and five ‘Self-Defence’ members armed with AK-47 rifles.

The situation in Kherson, Odessa, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Lviv remained calm.

In Chernivtsi the SMM met with the head of the Regional Department of Social Protection who provided the SMM with updated IDP figures and trends in the region. The department registered a slight increase of IDPs with as of now 322 registered IDPs, mainly from the eastern parts of Ukraine. An additional burden to the social protection budget was caused by a new initiative to provide one-time financial assistance to families of active soldiers deployed in the east. The regional governor requested a social mapping of soldiers’ families and suggested the introduction of a one-time payment of between 1000 – 2300 UAH. Presently, eight families of active soldiers have received this assistance.

The situation in Kyiv remained calm. The SMM noticed that the main stage of the Maidan had been completely dismantled. Civil groups and “Sotnias” of the Maidan informed the SMM that they are planning to construct a new stage with the support of businessmen from Kyiv, Ternopil and Lviv.