News and press releases

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission saw the body of a deceased man near the entry-exit checkpoint at Stanytsia Luhanska. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere.* The SMM followed up on reports of a confrontation at a church in Zhytomyr region.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM saw damage from gunfire to a residential house in Zolote-4/Rodina. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission followed up on reports that a woman had died while waiting at a checkpoint near Horlivka. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted at a border crossing point with the Russian Federation near Voznesenivka. In Kherson, the SMM monitored a court hearing at which the pre-trial detention of the former editor-in-chief of RIA Novosti Ukraine was extended...

VIENNA, 18 January 2019 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (Georgia) has wrapped up a visit to Vienna, in which he addressed the ambassadors of the OSCE’s 57 participating States and held a number of bilateral meetings with OSCE counterparts...

Latvia’s 6 October 2018 parliamentary elections were administered in a professional and efficient manner with a high level of confidence among stakeholders, concludes the final report issued by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 17 January 2019. The report

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • The Mission recorded military presence inside and ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area. • The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. • The Mission saw long queues of civilians waiting to travel across the contact line. • In Odessa, the SMM followed up on reports of a public gathering in front of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation. It saw splashes of red paint on the ground in front of the Consulate... • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas.*

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Small-arms fire damaged a window of an apartment building in Dokuchaievsk. A civilian woman died while crossing the contact line near Maiorsk entry-exit checkpoint. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Luhansk region. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas.* The SMM continued to follow up on a fire at the Pechersk Lavra in Kyiv. The Mission observed a calm situation at the crossing point in Chonhar and at a Ukrainian State Border Guard Service position in Valok, in the south-eastern part of Kherson region.

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Small arms were fired in the direction of an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle near Chermalyk, Donetsk region and close to SMM patrols in Popasna and Kriakivka, Luhansk region. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area and an armoured combat vehicle in the Petrivske disengagement area. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions as well as to enable the removal of an unexploded ordnance in Kriakivka, Luhansk region. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted at two border crossing points with the Russian Federation near Izvaryne and Sievernyi...