News and press releases

BRATISLAVA, 18 July 2019- OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák welcomed the new recommitment to an unlimited ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, starting from 21 July at 00 hrs. 01 min. (Kyiv time), as agreed at the meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group held in Minsk on 17 July.

A new web-based course on combating domestic violence, created by the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine and the online education platform EdEra, is open for users starting from 18 July 2019. The course for the general public aims at promoting awareness among Ukrainians of what domestic violence is and how it can be dealt with...

MINSK, 18 July 2019 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its working groups in Minsk on 17 July 2019:

MINSK, 17 July 2019- The Trilateral Contact Group, with the participation of representatives of certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, acknowledging the positive impact of the practice of recommitment to ceasefire, stressing the importance of ensuring peace and calm for the population, and also guided by earlier agreements and obligations of the sides...

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • A man from Chermalyk died from shrapnel injuries. • The SMM saw fresh damage caused by gunfire to civilian properties in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and Marinka, and craters caused by shelling near residential houses in Khreshchatytske. • Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM continued to observe demining activities and the operation of a shuttle bus service. • The Mission saw anti-tank mines and a wire obstacle on the road inside the Zolote disengagement area. • It saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region; specifically, it saw mortars near Sentianivka and multiple launch rocket systems in a training area near Miusynsk. • The SMM saw for the first time unexploded ordnance near Molodizhne and in Sentianivka.

COPENHAGEN, 17 July 2019 – Some 60 observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, including 42 parliamentarians from 20 countries, are deploying to Ukraine this week for the 21 July parliamentary elections. Finnish parliamentarian Ilkka Kanerva will serve as Special Co-ordinator and leader of the short-term OSCE observer mission, following an appointment by the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak...

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM saw fresh damage caused by gunfire to civilian properties in Dokuchaievsk and Marinka. Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM continued to observe demining activities; it also observed that a shuttle bus service had been introduced to transport people from an area south of the entry-exit checkpoint to the broken section of the bridge and in opposite direction. It saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs of critical civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, including to water pipelines in government-controlled Artema and power lines in non-government-controlled Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at checkpoints near Zaichenko, Bezimenne and Novoazovsk, all in non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region...