News and press releases

VIENNA, 20 June 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, expressed his deep sorrow following the death of journalist and blogger Vadim Komarov, who died last night in the hospital. He had been in a coma since suffering a violent attack on 4 May in Cherkasy, Ukraine.

SARAJEVO, 19 June 2019 – The 6th South East Europe Media Conference, organized by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media (RFoM) in co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), concluded today in Sarajevo. The event gathered around 200 journalists and media professionals from the region and abroad to discuss media developments, safety of journalists, the legal environment for media freedom, and sustainable solutions for public service broadcasters...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM saw fresh damage from shelling to residential houses in Donetsk city. Small-arms fire in the direction of an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle flying east of Shyrokyne, in areas between positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and of the armed formations The SMM observed small-arms fire impacts inside the disengagement area near Stanytsia Luhanska and recorded ceasefire violations inside the disengagement area near Zolote. The SMM saw for the first time a piece of unexploded ordnance in an asphalt road near Marinka. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere...

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM again saw damage from gunfire to a functioning school in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, and saw damage from shelling to residential houses in Khreshchatytske. It also observed damage to an agricultural building near Dokuchaievsk and craters in Prymorske and Sosnivske, as well as near Mykolaivka and Zaitseve. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the Mission saw an anti-aircraft gun and a trench extension and recorded a ceasefire violation. The SMM spotted anti-tank mines near Nyzhnie Lozove and Vesela Hora. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement area and elsewhere...

Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 14 and 15 June the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Between the evenings of 15 and 16 June, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. Five civilians from one family were injured and their house damaged from shelling in Marinka; the SMM also saw damage from shelling to a house in Donetsk city and small-arms fire damage to a residential building in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. Small-arms fire in the direction of an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle near non-government-controlled Prymorske. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. The SMM saw long queues at checkpoints along the contact line. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. Its freedom of movement was also denied at a checkpoint near Novoazovsk and at a weapons storage site, both in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region...

VIENNA, 17 June 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today welcomed the release from custody of journalist Igor Rudnikov, the editor and founder of the Kaliningrad-based Noviye Kolyosa newspaper, and called on the authorities in the Russian Federation to drop all charges and fully acquit the journalist...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. The SMM saw damage to a functioning school and to a shop in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, to a house in Dokuchaievsk and to two apartments in a residential building in Yasne. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. The SMM monitored a protest against the lack of running water in Kostiantynivka. It spotted military trucks travelling back and forth between a railway station and a warehouse in non-government-controlled Sukhodilsk near the border with the Russian Federation. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including in non-government-controlled areas at checkpoints near Verkhnoshyrokivske and in Prymorske and Sosnivske.