Latest from the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine based on information received until 11 July 2014, 18:00 (Kyiv time)

This update is provided for the media and the public.

The situation in the central-southern part of the Luhansk region and the central part of the Donetsk region remained volatile. Other parts of the country remained calm.

In Kharkiv, the situation remained calm.

In central-southern Luhansk and the central Donetsk regions, the situation remained volatile.

Fighting in the Donetsk airport area continued during the night of 10-11 July. The SMM heard explosions from the direction of the airport and saw two pillars of smoke. Road access from the east and south to the airport area was blocked by ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ (‘DPR’) forces. The SMM saw ‘DPR’ fighters moving in an armoured personnel carrier from the east of the city towards the airport; and two military trucks carrying armed ‘DPR’ forces moving from the city centre towards the airport area.

At a press conference on 11 July in Donetsk, the ‘prime minister of DPR’, Alexander Boroday, introduced the new ‘first deputy prime minister’, Vladimir Antyufeev, who will be in charge of security services, the Interior Ministry, courts, justice and customs.

On 10 July the SMM was told by the acting chief of police that 40 to 50 people had been detained in Sloviansk by 'DPR' forces while 31 people were unaccounted for. He also suggested that some detainees had been forced to join the ’DPR’ armed forces.

The overall number of police in Sloviansk, the acting police chief said, is in the process of being restored. By 10 July, the number of police had risen to 136 out of the mandated 333. The acting chief of police told the SMM that the city was not suffering from serious crime.

Unexploded ordnance (UXO) remains a problem in and around Sloviansk. On 10 July the SMM observed UXO in those parts of the city where fighting had taken place.

The SMM met the head of the local council in Starobylsk. He explained that people in the city suffered from a lack of cash due to the fact that the regional bank headquarters in Luhansk city had been occupied by forces of the “Luhansk People’s Republic” ( 'LPR').

The SMM met the chief of the social services department in Starobylsk Municipality and discussed the IDP situation in the region. According to him, the estimated number of unregistered IDPs in the Starobylsk district amounted to 4,000 people. He said that a task force dealing with IDP social issues had been established. The task force would help IDPs to access social services and find housing.

The SMM learnt that a task force dealing with damage, security assessment and humanitarian needs had been set up in the former office of the mayor of Sloviansk. This task force comprises of commanders from the State Services on Emergency Situations, Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) officers, the police, and members of the city council. It is headed by the first deputy governor of Donetsk region.

The situation in Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Odessa, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv and Kyiv was calm.