News and press releases

On 16 January at 10:44hrs, an SMM patrol comprised of three monitors, one paramedic and one language assistant in two armoured vehicles arrived at a field in the vicinity of government-controlled Marinka (23km south-west of Donetsk) – some 1.5km from the contact line – to conduct a general assessment of the damages to a gas pipeline...

KYIV, 17 January 2016 – The Chief Monitor of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Ertugrul Apakan condemned yesterday’s incident in which small-arms fire disrupted the work of the Mission’s monitors near Marinka in eastern Ukraine, and issued the following statement...

A number of ceasefire violations were recorded in Donetsk and Luhansk. The Mission facilitated the delivery of urgently needed haemodialysis equipment for patients in Horlivka hospital no.2. The SMM observed damage to houses in Kominternove and was prevented from entering a building and adjacent yard in the village by “DPR” members. An SMM unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was damaged by small-arms fire in Luhansk region...

Kyiv, 16 January 2016- The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) today opened a new Forward Patrol Base in the Luhansk region, becoming the Mission’s eighth such Base in the Donbas...

There’s no alternative to the Minsk agreement and implementing this document is needed, desirable and easy, said Alexander Hug, the Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, as he visited Kominternove and Shyrokyne in the Donetsk region on 15 January 2016...

The SMM observed a number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In particular, the Mission noted continued shelling in Horlivka, and a significant number of ceasefire violations in the outskirts of Kominternove. In Luhansk region, the SMM observed fresh craters assessed to have been caused by mortar fire. The Mission continued to facilitate and monitor adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair of critical infrastructure...

VIENNA, 14 January 2016 – Germany, as this year’s Chair of the OSCE, aims to steer the Organization as a platform for real and honest dialogue, said Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in his first address as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office to the Permanent Council in Vienna today...