News and press releases

Decisions on mine action and on the prohibition of live-fire exercises were endorsed by the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) in Minsk. The SMM observed ceasefire violations in numerous areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission observed a number of weapons outside storage sites – some of them in violation of the respective withdrawal lines. The SMM continued to observe the presence of mines and followed up on reports of mine-related fatalities. It facilitated and monitored repair works on both sides of the contact line. The SMM observed an anti-Maidan demonstration in Odessa...

MINSK, 3 March 2016 – The Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Ertugrul Apakan welcomed the decisions on mine action and prohibition of live-fire exercises, endorsed yesterday in Minsk by the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG)...

VIENNA, 29 January 2016 – A full, sustainable ceasefire remains a basic requirement for peace and normalization of the security situation in Ukraine, said the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group Martin Sajdik and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) Ertugrul Apakan in their address to the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna on Thursday...

VIENNA, 17 December 2015 – Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini and former OSCE Senior Operational Adviser John Crosby were today awarded the OSCE Medal by the Organization’s Secretary General, Lamberto Zannier, for their “dedication and tireless efforts that embody the OSCE’s lasting contribution to international security and co-operation"...

BELGRADE, 4 December 2015 – Only through dialogue can enduring and sustainable solutions be found to the crisis in and around Ukraine, said OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Serbia’s Foreign Minister Ivica Dačić on Thursday as he joined his Special Representative to the Trilateral Contact Group and the OSCE’s Chief Monitor in addressing a side event on the margins of the 22nd Ministerial Council in Belgrade...

BELGRADE, 3 December 2015- During the Ministerial Meeting of the OSCE Troika on the margins of the 22nd Ministerial Council in Belgrade, the Foreign Ministers of the current, previous and incoming OSCE Chairmanships- Serbia, Switzerland and Germany, respectively – reaffirmed their full support to the political process within the Trilateral Contact Group and the work of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), emphasizing that the Minsk agreements should be fully implemented. This implies upholding the ceasefire and moving forward with the political process...

Leaflets warning of the dangers from mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO), designed by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), were distributed to schools in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk by the SMM monitors over October and November 2015. Monitors also delivered interactive awareness lessons about the threat, answering questions from pupils about how to play safe...