News and press releases

At approximately 12:40hrs on 26 July, an SMM patrol comprised of two vehicles was caught in mortar and automatic grenade launcher fire while trying to cross the contact line from the “Lugansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”)-controlled side of Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk) to the government-controlled side. This crossing had been agreed and co-ordinated beforehand with both the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the “LPR”.

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*. Fighting continued at and around Donetsk airport and in areas to the east and north-east of Mariupol. The SMM observed weapons’ movements in “Lugansk People’s Republic”- and in government-controlled areas, in violation of respective withdrawal lines.

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. About 300 people gathered in front and inside the SMM’s location in Donetsk city centre; 30 OSCE vehicles were spray-painted with different slogans...

On 23 July 2015 at 07:25hrs (Moscow time), a Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 51 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guard and customs services. All the vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 16:11hrs on 23 July...

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 situation in and around Donetsk city and at the Donetsk airport was noticeably tenser than during the previous days. The SMM facilitated the continuing repairs on the water pipelines between Horlivka (“DPR”-controlled) and Maiorsk (government-controlled). The SMM monitored 2000 Right Sector protesters rallying in Kyiv...

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 situation in Donetsk and Luhansk region remained relatively calm. The SMM observed the planned movement of military equipment by both Ukrainian Armed Forces and “Donetsk People’s Republic”. In Minsk, at a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group, an agreement was reached within the security working group on the withdrawal of tanks and smaller calibre weapons...

VIENNA, 22 July 2015 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović today welcomed the transparency and openness of the process to create the draft Information Security Concept of Ukraine. She also presented a legal analysis of the document commissioned by her Office...