News and press releases

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number of ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. • The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area. • Small-arms fire was directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle near Novotoshkivske.* • The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines near Bakhmut, Kostiantynivka and Lysychansk. • The Mission continued to observe long queues of civilians travelling across the contact line near Stanytsia Luhanska. • The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure and damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. • Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas.*

MINSK, 19 December 2018 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its Working Groups in Minsk on 19 December 2018:

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. It observed demining activities near government-controlled Shyrokyi and Krasna Talivka. The SMM continued to observe hardship faced by civilians at checkpoints along the contact line. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure as well as damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a public gathering related to gender issues.Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas.

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure as well as damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted at two weapons storage sites in non-government-controlled-areas of Donetsk region, as well as Novoamvrosiivske and Makiivka and close to Voznesenivka, a non-government-controlled area of Luhansk region near the border with the Russian Federation.*

Between the evenings of 14 and 15 December, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 15 and 16 December, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM followed up on reports of a woman who had sustained injuries due to gunfire in Slovianoserbsk and two men injured in a grenade explosion in Krasnohorivka.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The SMM recorded over 60 ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission observed weapons in violations of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure as well as damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted at a compound near Donske.* The Mission monitored a public gathering in Kyiv.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The Mission saw fresh damage caused by gunfire to a residential building in Dokuchaievsk. The SMM recorded over 60 ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area and 25 near the area. Small-arms fire was directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle after it spotted hardware assessed as electronic warfare equipment near non-government-controlled Lozivskyi. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure as well as damaged houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. The SMM monitored the transfer of persons convicted before the beginning of the conflict in 2014 from non-government-controlled to government-controlled areas of Donetsk region. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted at a checkpoint near Starolaspa...