Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 7 September 2014

This report is for media and the general public.

The SMM continued monitoring, with a focus - in light of arrangements made in Minsk - on events in Donbas.

In Shchastya (20 km north of Luhansk), the SMM witnessed exchange of fire between forces affiliated with the “Luhansk Peoples’ Republic” (“LPR”) and the Ukrainian Army (see SMM Spot Report, 7 September).

The SMM in Donetsk observed evidence of continued fighting close to the area of the Donetsk International Airport (see SMM Spot Report, 7 September).

On 6 September (see SMM Spot Report, 6 September) and 7 September the SMM visited the vicinities of Mariupol. At the ‘Skhidnyi’ checkpoint, the SMM observed one military truck and one civilian car destroyed as a result of the shelling in the previous night and numerous mortar craters. The gas station located 150m from the checkpoint was also damaged. During a visit to the village of Shyrokyne at 10:25hrs, the SMM heard four explosions incoming from the east.

The situation in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson was calm.

The SMM visited the village of Antonivka (182 km north-west of Odessa), inhabited by approximately 670 ethnic Russians. The head of the village council told the SMM that there were no ethnic tensions between the villagers and inhabitants of neighbouring Ukrainian villages.

In 5-6 shops and restaurants in Chernivtsi city centre the SMM observed posters calling for a boycott of Russian goods.

The situation in Ivano-Frankivsk was calm.

The SMM in Lviv observed a peaceful action organized by Economic Boycott, a local NGONGO
non-governmental organization promoting the boycott of Russian retail products. The supermarket’s management, urged by the protesters to stop selling Russian products, stated that Russian products were no longer being acquired and that those on shelves were leftovers from their stocks.

On 5 September the SMM met with the Head of the Jewish community in Truskavets, a city of around 30,000 inhabitants, located 90 km south-west of Lviv. The interlocutor evaluated the general situation as calm, assessing the relationships with the majority community and with local authorities as co-operative. Interactions with the Russian and Polish communities were assessed positively as well.

The SMM in Kyiv monitored the opening – in the building of the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) headquarters – of a new service centre for the citizens of Ukraine, a governmental inter-agency body called ‘Support centre for freeing the prisoners of war’. The SMM observed around 50 people waiting to report cases of abduction or disappearances of their relatives to the head of SBU, representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of the Interior. Five desks had been established to receive requests or reports from the citizens. According to the SBU spokesperson, the new service centre has co-operated with civil society and international organizations to establish a joint secure database. She said that all cases would be registered, irrespective of whether the abducted or missing person is a civilian or a military serviceperson.