Spot report by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM): SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle goes missing over non-government-controlled area in Donetsk region

This report is for the media and the general public.

At 01:18 on 27 October, while flying over an area near Kalynove (non-government-controlled, 72km east of Donetsk), an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted a surface-to-air missile system (9K33 Osa) and a fuel truck east of Nyzhnokrynske (non-government-controlled, 66km east of Donetsk). The UAV was immediately re-directed north towards Saurivka (non-government-controlled, 72km east of Donetsk). At 01:36, the UAV spotted a convoy of seven trucks on a dirt road near the border with the Russian Federation where there are no border crossing facilities, driving in a south-westerly direction towards Manych (non-government-controlled, 76km east of Donetsk). The UAV was then re-directed south towards Nyzhnokrynske in order to continue observing the convoy. At 01:53 the SMM lost all communications with the UAV while it was flying at an altitude of about 7.000ft over an area south-east of Nyzhnokrynske. For about 35 minutes before communications were lost, the UAV had experienced signal interference, assessed as jamming, at intervals in areas near Saurivka and Nyzhnokrynske. The UAV did not return to its ground control station near Stepanivka (government-controlled, 54km north of Donetsk) and is considered lost.

Since 7 August 2018, the SMM has observed convoys, including trucks, on seven occasions on the same abovementioned unpaved road in the area near the border (for the latest observations, see SMM Daily Report 18 October 2018).