News and press releases

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements.” Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. The SMM continued to observe ceasefire violations at and around Donetsk airport. The SMM observed shelling in Donetsk city centre for the first time in several months and observed the aftermath of the shelling in residential neighbourhoods there, while also hearing reports and observing the effects of shelling in and around government-controlled Avdiivka to the north. The situation in Luhansk region remained relatively calm.

VIENNA, 20 July 2015 – Senior representatives of journalists’ professional unions from Russia and Ukraine today discussed and endorsed the key recommendations by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media that followed the conference “Journalists’ Safety, Media Freedom and Pluralism in Times of Conflict” held in Vienna on 15 and16 June 2015.

ERGNETI, 20 July 2015- On 20th July 2015, an extraordinary meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) took place in Ergneti, co-facilitated by Kęstutis Jankauskas, the Head of the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), and Ambassador Angelo Gnaedinger, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-office for the South Caucasus...

A celebration to mark the end of a ten-day summer school for youth was held on 19 July 2015 in Molovata Noua, a town by the Dniester/Nistru River. Local officials and inhabitants from both banks of the river attended the event, as did the 80 participants of the summer school...

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of Measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements.” Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. The SMM observed that the number of ceasefire violations at and around Donetsk airport decreased. In Shyrokyne no ceasefire violations were observed. The repair at the water pipeline north-west of Horlivka was suspended due to ceasefire violations. The SMM in Kyiv as well as on the crash site in Hrabove observed a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the downing of Malaysian Airline Flight MH17.

KYIV, 17 July- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić visited the OSCE operations in Kyiv today, where he expressed his full support for their efforts aimed at addressing the crisis in and around Ukraine.

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of Measures for the Implementation of the Minsk Agreements.” Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. The level of violence around the destroyed “Donetsk People’s Republic”-controlled airport decreased. The SMM continued to facilitate ongoing repairs to the water-supply system between Horlivka and Maiorsk. The security situation in Luhansk region remained relatively calm. The SMM continued to observe throughout Ukraine several rallies by Right Sector activists albeit in smaller numbers than during the previous days.