News and press releases

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions between the evenings of 26 and 27 October, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 27 and 28 October, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission followed up on its long-range UAV that had gone missing near non-government-controlled Nyzhnokrynske. Small-arms fire was assessed as aimed at an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle near Metalist. The SMM saw weapons in violation of agreed withdrawal lines near Novookhtyrka and Novoaidar. It recorded ceasefire violations assessed as inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Zaichenko, Novoazovsk and Yuzhna-Lomuvatka. The SMM monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable demining activities near Nyzhnoteple and Zolote-2/Karbonit and facilitated repairs to damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a public gathering in support of election reform...

VIENNA, 29 October 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today expressed his serious concern over the lasting pre-trial detention of bureau chief of RIA Novosti Ukraine, Kirill Vyshinsky, which has been extended twice already since July, and hopes that the upcoming court proceeding will lead to his release on 4 November 2018, when his current detention is scheduled to end.

VIENNA, 28 October 2018 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today welcomed the results of yesterday’s referendum in Ireland calling for a removal of blasphemy provisions from the national Constitution.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed damage to a civilian property in the Trudivski area of Donetsk city’s Petrovskyi district. It recorded small-arms fire inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Khoroshe. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas.* The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema, power lines in Berehove, houses in Marinka, Krasnohorivka and Avdiivka, as well as to enable demining activities near Nyzhnoteple.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of civilian casualties as a result of a mine explosion near Zalizne. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Verkhnoshyrokivske and Novoazovsk, near the border with the Russian Federation.* The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM also facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to power lines near Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, as well as to enable demining in Zolote-2/Karbonit and Novotroitske. The Mission observed a convoy of trucks marked, “Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation”, in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. It followed up on reports of a civilian casualty in Marinka. An explosion occurred 100m from an SMM patrol, assessed as inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The Mission also recorded ceasefire violations near the Petrivske disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Zaichenko, Bezimenne, Kozatske and Novolaspa.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to critical civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as to enable demining in Zolote-2/Karbonit and Nyzhnoteple. In Kyiv and Dnipro, the SMM monitored public gatherings against rising gas costs...

VIENNA, 25 October 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today expressed his alarm and strong condemnation after an explosive device was sent to CNN’s offices in New York, in the United States of America...