News and press releases

Bern, August 29, 2014- Swiss Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Didier Burkhalter, expressed great concern about the spreading of military confrontation to further areas in eastern parts of Ukraine and the respective escalation of tensions. He also said that reports about growing flows of military personnel and military equipment from the Russian Federation into Ukraine were greatly troubling and must be thoroughly investigated. He recalled that the territorial integrity of Ukraine and its sovereignty had to be respected and preserved by all sides and at all times, adding that failure to do so would contravene international law and fundamental principles of the OSCE.

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKY, Russian Federation, 27 August 2014- The Observer Mission (OM) has completed the replacement of its administrative staff members. Cross-border traffic flow increased at both Border Crossing Points with more people exiting from the Russian Federation into Ukraine in the past two days. The OM received reports from people fleeing the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. The most prominent occurrence was the passage of 227 vehicles belonging to a Russian convoy to Ukraine and its return to the Russian Federation through Donetsk Border Crossing Point, which attracted considerable media attention...

The SMM visited areas in the Luhansk region affected by the armed conflict. In Donetsk the SMM gathered information about incidents against priests from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate...

The SMM monitored impacts of shelling in Donetsk, visited a border crossing point near Kharkiv, and received accounts about illegal dumping of chemical material near Lviv.

DONETSK CHECKPOINT, Russian Federation, 23 August 2014- On 23 August, between 10:00 and 14:15 (local time), a total number of 220 vehicles of the Russian convoy returned from Ukraine and crossed to the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). Already seven vehicles of the convoy had returned to the BCP on the evening of 22 August. The OSCE Observer Mission (OM) concludes that all 227 vehicles of the aid convoy, which had crossed the Donetsk BCP towards Ukraine on 22 August (see Spot Reports of 22 August 2014), have returned to the Russian Federation (RF).

BERN, August 23, 2014 – Deploring that the agreement by Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the modalities of delivering the convoy aid was not implemented in good faith, Didier Burkhalter, Swiss Minister of Foreign Affairs and OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from any actions which could contribute to the further escalation of the situation. Stressing that humanitarian aid had to be delivered in accordance with humanitarian principles and in full respect of Ukrainian sovereignty, Burkhalter urged all sides to help transform this convoy aid into a cooperative endeavor again.

DONETSK CHECKPOINT, Russian Federation, 22 August 2014- On 22 August (until 15:55) a total number of 227 vehicles passed the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP) control area towards the border between the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Out of the total number of vehicles, 37 had been inspected. In addition, out of the 227 vehicles, between 27-30 were support vehicles and rest of them trucks.