Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 3 March 2015

This report is for media and the general public.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. The SMM, based on its monitoring – which was restricted by third parties and by security considerations – assessed the security situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions as relatively calm, but noted continued fighting in certain locations, notably on the outskirts of Donetsk city, and continued military activity around the village of Shyrokyne, close to Mariupol.

From its position in Donetsk city-centre, the SMM heard the sound of explosions and gunfire on numerous occasions: at 22:00hrs on 2 March, approximately five explosions emanating from an indeterminate location; at 22:05hrs on 2 March, two gunshots from an unspecified location to the east; at 10:45hrs on 3 March, small-arms fire from the north-west, assessed to have occurred in or around the Donetsk airport; separately, at 10:46, 11:05 and 11:13hrs on 3 March, what appeared to have been a single incoming mortar round; at 12:35hrs on 3 March, approximately 40 explosions, assessed to have been incoming Grad Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) rounds, thought to have impacted in or around the Donetsk airport; at 14:43hrs on 3 March, two explosions, assessed to have been outgoing mortar or artillery rounds emanating from an unknown location to the north-west; and, at 15:16hrs on 3 March, one explosion of indeterminate origin.

Whilst in “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”)-controlled Zalisne (90km east of Donetsk), the SMM heard three explosions emanating from a location eight to 12 kilometres to the north-west.

In government-controlled Maiorsk (41km north of Donetsk), the SMM heard two outgoing light mortar rounds (82mm) emanating from a location approximately two kilometres south-east of its position. A few minutes later, the SMM heard two incoming mortar rounds, assessed to have impacted approximately two kilometres south-east of its position. At another location in the town – close to a Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoint – the SMM heard outgoing small arms fire from an estimated distance of 300 metres south-east of its position.

At the headquarters of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) in government-controlled Soledar (77km north of Donetsk), the SMM was shown JCCC incident logs, which recorded 24 alleged ceasefire violations for the 24-hour period preceding 08:00hrs, 3 March, half of which allegedly occurred in or around villages close to the Donetsk airport. The logs also alleged that three Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel had been killed and nine wounded.

The “commander” at a “DPR” checkpoint on the western edge of Shyrokyne (22km east of Mariupol; and 102km south of Donetsk) prevented the SMM from entering the village. From a hill-top vantage point near the village, the SMM observed a camouflaged GAZ TIGRA-type armoured personnel carrier, with its gun pointing west, among the buildings in the north-east of the village. In two government-controlled villages in the vicinity of Shyrokyne, and in one government-controlled village in a rear area, the SMM observed a total of five tanks.    

In government-controlled Hranitne (57km south of Donetsk), Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel manning a checkpoint refused to allow the SMM passage through the checkpoint, citing security concerns, specifically the risks posed by shelling and sniper-fire.

In government-controlled Slovyansk (95km north of Donetsk), the town’s prosecutor told the SMM that five or six “terrorism”-related cases – mostly relating to what he described as minor incidents dating from the period when the town was under “DPR” control – were being referred to a Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) investigation team based in Izyum in the Kharkiv region every day.

At the JCCC office in government-controlled Starobilsk (84km north-west of Luhansk), a Ukrainian Armed Forces commander – a member of the JCCC – informed the SMM that he had not been given orders to monitor the withdrawal of weapons from the line of contact. He, however, said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had removed MT-12 artillery pieces from Sector A, one of four sectors along the contact line stretching from the Ukrainian-Russian Federation state border to government-controlled Zolote (60km north-west of Luhansk). He said they had been moved to locations 25 kilometres from the contact line, and plans had already been drawn up to remove other types of artillery pieces.

In “Lugansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”)-controlled Parkhomenko (28km east of Luhansk), the SMM was prevented from travelling to “LPR”-controlled Kruzhylivka (35km east of Luhansk) on the Ukraine-Russian Federation state border by “LPR” “border guards”.

The SMM continued monitoring the situation in Kharkiv, Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson, Odessa, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Lviv and Kyiv.