News and press releases

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number of ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission observed fresh damage to civilian properties caused by shelling in Dokuchaievsk. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded a ceasefire violation inside the Petrivske disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted there as well as at a heavy weapons holding area and a permanent storage site in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region. The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Novoselivka. The SMM continued to facilitate access to the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) for Voda Donbassa water company employees; it, again, heard ceasefire violations in the area despite security guarantees. It also continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to high-voltage power lines near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka. In Odessa, the SMM monitored the commemoration of the events that took place on 2 May 2014...

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo concluded its training programme on operational command duties for high ranked women officers of the Kosovo Police with a practical training from 29 April to 2 May 2018 at the South Wales Police (SWP) in Cardiff, United Kingdom...

Journalists from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia took part in the international conference Freedom of Speech: Opportunities and Perspectives in the Region in Dushanbe on 3 May to mark World Press Freedom Day.

PODGORICA, 3 May 2018 – “Political processes must adhere to democratic values, which are the foundation of media and institutional independence,” said OSCE Head of Mission to Montenegro Maryse Daviet on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day...

VIENNA, 3 May 2018 – The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) opens today a Call for Candidacies for 18 fully-paid scholarships at the European Innovation Academy (EIA), one of the world’s leading summer entrepreneurship programmes for young professionals, students, recent graduates and young start-uppers...

KYIV, 3 May 2018 –Civilian workers maintaining the Donetsk Filtration Station and the civilian monitoring officers from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) currently facilitating their access must be protected, said the SMM Chief Monitor Ertugrul Apakan in Kyiv today...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Yasne and Trudivski area of Donetsk city’s Petrovskyi district and observed fresh damage caused by gunfire in the Petrovskyi district of Donetsk city. An SMM unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) recorded soldiers pointing rifles and firing towards the UAV near Katerynivka; another UAV was jammed near Bohdanivka.* The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the disengagement areas near Zolote and Petrivske. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including at border areas beyond government control in Luhansk region. The SMM observed weapons in violation in Roty and Klynove. The SMM continued to facilitate access to the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) for Voda Donbassa water company employees; it heard ceasefire violations in the general area despite security guarantees. It also continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to high-voltage power lines near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka. The Mission monitored gatherings marking International Labour Day in several regions of Ukraine. In Odessa, the SMM followed up on reports of an attack against the head of a pro-Maidan group...