Spot Report by the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine: Small-arms fire occurs on two occasions close to SMM near Yasynuvata, Khreshchatytske

This report is for the media and general public.

At 11:15 on 3 March, positioned south-west of  “DPR”-controlled Khreshchatytske (formerly Krasnoarmiiske, 33km north-east of Mariupol) the SMM observed what it assessed to be two self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) and one command vehicle moving from south to north and turning east at locations 2-3km east from SMM’s position. The SMM moved further south-east, and at 11:50 reached a location about 500m east of the spot where it had assessed the weapons could be located. At 12:00, the SMM heard 20 single shots of small-arms fire 1km north-east. The SMM moved to a slightly higher spot nearby that offered a better view. While at the spot at 12:03, observing the area with binoculars, the SMM heard another five bursts of small-arms fire 300-500m east-south-east. The SMM assessed the second series of small-arms fire as warning shots as it started when the patrol members moved to the slightly higher spot, not targeting the SMM directly, and stopped as soon as they returned to the SMM vehicles. Due to security considerations, the SMM left the area.

Also on 3 March the SMM was about 3km west of “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata (16km north-east of Donetsk). At 08:40 the SMM launched a mini unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) over highway H-20 and road M-04 near the Donetsk Water Filtration Station, to gather information on the security situation in the area in order to facilitate access for repair work. The Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) had facilitated security guarantees, and a Russian Federation officer of the JCCC, as well as “DPR” members and media were present at the launch site. Six minutes later, while the UAV was flying about 1.2km south-west of the patrol’s position and about 1km south-east of the Water Filtration Station, the SMM decided to recall the UAV due to small-arms fire assessed as occurring at a south-south-westerly direction. While flying back, at 08:46, the UAV, out of sight of the SMM, started drifting in an easterly direction, although there was no wind, and spinning without responding to the operator’s commands. The operator performed forced landing of the UAV about 1km south-west of the patrol’s position, but after the UAV landedthe connection with it was lost.

Due to security considerations, the SMM left the area. The SMM could not return to the area to recover the UAV due to lack of security guarantees. The SMM will continue to follow up and report any relevant findings.

These are only two of an increasing number of incidents that the SMM has faced recently, in addition to other restrictions to its freedom of movement.