News and press releases

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station; it heard small-arms fire overhead, despite security guarantees having been provided. The SMM followed up on reports that a man had been injured by an explosion while handling an explosive device in Lutuhyne.

COPENHAGEN, 11 October 2018 – OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) has appointed Austrian parliamentarian Roman Haider to serve as the Assembly’s Special Representative on Central Asia...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region but fewer ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of casualties in Maiorove and Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM observed damage as a result of shelling in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. It continued monitoring all three disengagement areas, where its access remained restricted. The SMM’s access was also again restricted near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka and Verkhnoshyrokivske.* The SMM saw weapons in violation of the agreed withdrawal lines near Ocheretyne, Smolianynove and Metolkine. The Mission observed newly laid mines on both sides of the contact line. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM also facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to the phenol sludge reservoir near Zalizne and to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema.

ANTALYA, 9 October 2018 – Participating in the Third Meeting of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments today, OSCE PA President George Tsereteli (MP, Georgia) voiced the necessity to respect international commitments to support sustainable growth across the OSCE area and beyond...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission followed up on reports of a woman who died due to natural causes at a checkpoint of the armed formations in Horlivka. It continued monitoring all three disengagement areas and recorded ceasefire violations inside and near the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and was also restricted near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka, Staromarivka and Syvash, as well as in Michurine, at a heavy weapons holding area in a government-controlled area of Donetsk region, and again near Zaichenko.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions between the evenings of 5 and 6 October, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 6 and 7 October, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM saw damage caused by shelling to a farm near Novoluhanske. The SMM continued monitoring all three disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas; it was also restricted near Novoazovsk, near the border with the Russian Federation, and again near Zaichenko. The SMM saw multiple launch rocket systems near Novoamvrosiivske. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. It also facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to the phenol sludge reservoir near Zalizne...

VIENNA, 7 October 2018 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today expressed his shock and condemnation at the news of the brutal murder of Viktoria Marinova, anchor and administrative director at TVN in Ruse, Bulgaria...