News and press releases

The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the Implementation of the Minsk agreements”. The SMM, based on its monitoring – which was restricted by third parties and by security considerations* – observed a massive increase in the number of ceasefire violations, especially around Donetsk airport and Shyrokyne. Fighting continued in other areas but sporadically.

The first meeting of the Regulatory Reform Council, in Kyrgyzstan was opened on 9 April 2015 in Bishkek by Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Valery Dil, Minister of Economy Temir Sariev, and the Head of the OSCE Centre in Bishkek, Ambassador Sergey Kapinos. The aim of the event was to give a boost to the economic reform process in the country to stimulate growth and reduce corruption...

BAKU, 13 April 2015- The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Baku and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry organized a two-day conference on ensuring national security in the information age, which brought together more than 80 representatives from more than 30 government and private organizations in Azerbaijan as well as international experts on cybersecurity...

At 9.35hrs on 12 April, upon arrival at Donetsk railway station (“Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”)-controlled, 8km north-west of Donetsk city centre), the SMM witnessed heavy fighting between “DPR” and the Ukrainian Armed Forces in areas near the city visible from its position.

KYIV, 12 April 2015 — The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), Ambassador Ertugrul Apakan, expressed his dismay that violence resumed in the eastern Ukrainian town of Shyrokyne yesterday, and today in and around Donetsk airport, and called upon all sides to exercise restraint.

Following an SMM-facilitated, three-day period of relative calm, at 18.35hrs on 11 April, the SMM – positioned on the eastern outskirts of government-controlled Berdianske (2km west of “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”)-controlled Shyrokyne) – heard a tank round being fired. It assessed it to have been fired from government-controlled territory approximately 500 metres from its position, and to have impacted in or around Shyrokyne.

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 by security considerations*. The situation around Donetsk airport and Shyrokyne remained tense. The SMM observed several demonstrations in Luhansk city, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa and Ivano-Frankivsk.