News and press releases

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM observed damage to functioning schools in Holmivskyi and Donetsk city. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission observed long queues of people, up to 1,500, at the entry-exit checkpoint north of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in Zolote and Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near non-government-controlled Zaichenko.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations and saw military hardware, fresh craters, unmanned aerial vehicles and mines seen for the first time inside the Zolote disengagement area; it also saw military hardware inside the Petrivske disengagement area. The Mission observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas, in Voznesenivka, close to the border with the Russian Federation, and elsewhere near non-government-controlled Verkhnoshyrokivske and Staropetrivske.

ERGNETI, 22 March 2019- On 22 March 2019, the 92nd meeting under the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM) was held in Ergneti. The gathering was conducted in an open and constructive atmosphere.

The Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department held meetings with North Macedonia’s Minister of Interior Oliver Spasovski and his Task Force on the International Civil Aviation Organization’s Public Key Directory (ICAO PKD), from 21 to 22 March 2019 in Skopje...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. The SMM observed military presence in the Petrivske disengagement area and again saw anti-tank mines and military presence in the Zolote disengagement area. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions including repairs to the wooden ramps in the broken section of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. The Mission facilitated and monitored a transfer of persons convicted before the conflict from non-government- to government-controlled areas in Luhansk region. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and at a checkpoint of the armed formations near Zaichenko, Donetsk region...

International rule of law standards for the individualization of criminal responsibility were the topic of a seminar organized on 21 March 2019 in Minsk for participants from across Belarus.

Innovative methods for researching unreported hate crimes and hate incidents were the focus of a training session for criminal justice and human rights professionals organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 20 and 21 March 2019 in Warsaw.