News and press releases

An armed man opened fire at and violently attacked the SMM in Yasynuvata. The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission confirmed that one elderly woman had been seriously injured by an explosion in Yasynuvata. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations near Zolote disengagement area. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Pikuzy.* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines. An SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted, for the first time, the presence of 13 anti-tank mines near Pikuzy. The SMM observed long queues of civilians travelling across the contact line at Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. It continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to power lines between Almazna and Zolote. The Mission visited one border area not under government control. In Kyiv the SMM continued to observe a protest by supporters of the former Aidar battalion...

VIENNA, 21 June 2017 – Major threats to media freedom and freedom of expression, particularly in those regions affected by conflict and crisis, were the focus of the conference, Media Freedom in Volatile Environments, organized by the Office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, which concluded in Vienna yesterday...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations and fewer explosions in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM confirmed the death of a man in Zhovte and observed damage caused by shelling in Pikuzy and Sakhanka. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations in Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and heard an explosion near Zolote. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Khreshchatytske when the SMM attempted to corroborate reports of a civilian casualty in the area.* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to power lines between Almazna and Zolote. The SMM observed a protest by supporters of the Aidar battalion outside the Kyiv City office of the Security Service of Ukraine...

Berlin, 19 June 2017 – Making full use of the OSCE Asian Partnership as a forum for addressing common challenges is essential to ensure comprehensive security in the OSCE region and its neighbourhood, emphasized participants at the opening of the OSCE Asian Conference in Berlin today.

Between the evenings of 16 and 17 June the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 17 and 18 June the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. It confirmed one elderly woman had died from a gunshot wound in Sakhanka. The SMM observed damage to multiple civilian properties due to shelling in Shchastia, Starolaspa, Yasynuvata and Obozne...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. It confirmed one man had died following shelling of government-controlled Sukha Balka and that two people had been injured in a suspected mine explosion in Bairak. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas and observed construction inside the latter. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere* The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines. It continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to power lines between Almazna and Zolote. The SMM visited three border areas not under government control. The Mission observed a protest against the re-naming of streets under the de-communisation process in Kyiv...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, including more explosions compared with the previous reporting period. In Luhansk region the Mission registered more ceasefire violations, but fewer explosions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas; an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle spotted that 12 anti-tank mines previously observed at the edge of the Zolote disengagement area were no longer present.