News and press releases

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. • The Mission observed demining activities and removal of concrete blocks and other objects inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. • The SMM followed up on reports of a woman injured due to shelling in Oleksandrivka. • It saw damage caused by gunfire to and near civilian houses and a church in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and Pikuzy. • An SMM long-range UAV was lost in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region. • The Mission saw weapons in violations of withdrawal lines in a government-controlled area in Luhansk region. • The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate the operations of critical civilian infrastructure. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. Its freedom of movement was also denied near Novoazovsk and Kozatske, and in areas near the border with the Russian Federation, all in non-government-controlled areas.*

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. • The Mission saw demining activities inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and further withdrawal of forces and hardware. • The SMM saw fresh craters and damage to houses due to shelling in Pikuzy. • Small-arms fire was assessed as aimed at SMM unmanned aerial vehicles near Sakhanka and Staromykhailivka. • The SMM saw anti-tank mines near Talakivka and Pikuzy, including some for the first time. • The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to critical civilian infrastructure. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including near non-government-controlled Starolaspa, Shevchenko and Verkhnoshyrokivske.*

BRATISLAVA, 28 June 2019- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Minister, Miroslav Lajčák, met with Minsk Group Co-Chairs Igor Popov of the Russian Federation and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America, acting also on behalf of Minsk Group Co-Chair Stéphane Visconti of France, and with Personal Representative of the Chairperson-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk.

VIENNA, 28 June 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, paid tribute today to the killed journalists of the media outlet the Capital Gazette on the first anniversary of the horrific shooting in Maryland, USA.

• The Mission observed the beginning of the disengagement process at the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. • Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. • The SMM saw fresh damage from gunfire to a civilian house in Dokuchaievsk and to a pig farm near Novoluhanske. • It saw anti-tank mines near Petrivske, some for the first time. • The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to critical civilian infrastructure, including to water pipelines and powerlines. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere.

VIENNA, 27 June 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today called upon the authorities of Tajikistan to investigate reports that a journalist’s family members were intimidated and to reconsider withdrawal of press accreditation for Radio Free Europe-Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) correspondent in Dushanbe.

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer Luhansk region. • Small arms were fired in the vicinity of the SMM, and other civilians, in Donetsk city and of an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle near Zolote. • The SMM followed up on a boy injured from the detonation of unexploded ordnance in Holmivskyi. • The Mission saw fresh craters near Vodiane and Molodizhne, and again saw the presence of mines near Vodiane, Travneve, Holmivskyi and Nyzhnie Lozove. • The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to water pipelines in Luhansk region and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure in Donetsk region. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewere.*