News and press releases

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region between the evenings of 12 and 13 October, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 13 and 14 October, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous 24 hours. In Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, the SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties and observed damage caused by shelling. The Mission also observed damage caused by shelling and gunfire in residential areas of Yasynuvata and Chermalyk. It recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area and near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Petrivske disengagement areas. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Zaichenko, Novoazovsk and Leonove, near the border with the Russian Federation.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of the agreed withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable demining in Zolote 2/Karbonit. The Mission monitored events related to the Defender of Ukraine Day in different cities as well as a march on the occasion of the anniversary of the founding of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Kyiv...

VIENNA, 15 October 2018 – On the eve of the first anniversary of the horrific murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir recalled the need to better ensure the safety of every journalist in the OSCE region, and called on the Maltese authorities to ensure that all those involved in this killing face justice...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. It observed a fresh crater caused by shelling in a residential area of Sakhanka. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and observed ceasefire violations near the Petrivske and Zolote disengagement areas. An SMM patrol heard and saw an explosion near Pervomaisk, approximately 300m west of its location. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Siedove, Novoazovsk and Voznesenivka, near the border with the Russian Federation.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of the agreed withdrawal lines near Pidlisne. An SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle again spotted vehicles, including a truck carrying an armoured personnel carrier, entering and exiting Ukraine via an unpaved road in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region near the border with the Russian Federation where there are no border crossing facilities. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to critical civilian infrastructure near Zalizne, Sakhanka, Artema, Donetskyi, Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and Krasnyi Lyman, as well as to enable demining in Zolote 2/Karbonit. In Kharkiv, the SMM observed a protest at an event hosted by an organization advocating for the rights of the LGBT community.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. It observed fresh bullet impacts at a forward position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and again observed military positions inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as again near Zoria and Verkhnoshyrokivske.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of the agreed withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. An SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle again spotted vehicles (including one carrying an anti-aircraft gun) in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region moving on a dirt road towards the border with the Russian Federation where there are no border crossing facilities; the SMM recalled the unmanned aerial vehicle due to multiple instances of GPS signal loss assessed as jamming. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to critical civilian infrastructure near Zalizne, Marinka, Artema, Vesela Hora, Donetskyi, Krasnyi Lyman and Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, as well as to enable demining in Zolote 2/Karbonit. The SMM observed gatherings in protest of low salaries and high utility costs in Lviv, Dnipro and Ivano-Frankivsk and an evacuation caused by a bomb threat in Kherson.

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina Bruce G. Berton, leading a delegation of Mission staff, lay a wreath of flowers at a memorial for civilian war victims in Žepče on 12 October 2018, and paid respect to all civilians who lost their lives in the 1992-1995 war in the country...

VIENNA, 12 October 2018- The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, welcomed the progress in the investigation of the brutal murder of the Bulgarian journalist Viktoria Marinova.

VIENNA, 11 October 2018 – With one billion citizens of the OSCE area – or 15 per cent of the world’s population – relying on diplomacy to succeed in creating a world free from oppression, discrimination, poverty and violence, political will must be generated to ensure full implementation of OSCE commitments, Assembly President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) said today in Vienna...