Spot Report by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, 12 July 2015: Monitoring events in the wake of deadly shooting in Mukacheve

On 12 July, the SMM dispatched a patrol of the Ivano-Frankivsk-based team to monitor events in the wake of an armed incident that reportedly occurred the previous day in Mukacheve (Zakarpattia region, 605km south-west of Kyiv). According to media reports, at least two people were killed – reportedly members of the Right Sector (Pravyi Sektor) – and several others were wounded in a shootout at a café allegedly owned by a member of parliament (Verkhovna Rada).

On its way to Mukacheve, the SMM observed heightened security measures, including several police checkpoints. At one such checkpoint, north of Mukacheve, about 2km from the alleged incident scene, the SMM saw the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arriving, with ten armoured vans and two minibuses. At the time, the scene itself was made inaccessible by law enforcement for security reasons.

The SMM met together with the Mukacheve mayor, deputy mayor, and a police spokesperson. According to the interlocutors, a task force from Kyiv, comprised of the SBU, the National Guard and the Prosecutor General’s Office, was in charge of the on-going post-incident operation. According to them, other Right Sector members involved in the incident had hidden in a forest. At 18:02, near Stryi (120km north-east of Mukachevo), the SMM saw a Ukrainian Armed Forces convoy moving towards Mukacheve, comprised of 11 APCs, two trucks loaded with soldiers and one fuel truck.

The SMM spoke with the Mukacheve hospital director and two of his deputies, who said a man with a gunshot wound in his head, admitted to hospital on 11 July, was still in a critical state. According to them, on the same day five wounded civilians and five police had been admitted to hospital. On 12 July, they added, police had brought to hospital one dead body, and the SBU had brought two seriously wounded persons. They said three civilians and three police admitted the previous day had been discharged today. The SMM will continue to monitor the situation.