News and press releases

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM saw fresh damage caused by shelling in Donetsk city’s Petrovskyi district. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable inspection and repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas, as well as at a checkpoint near non-government-controlled Kovske, Donetsk region...

VIENNA, 21 February 2019 – Speakers at the opening plenary session of the 18th Winter Meeting in Vienna stressed today the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s unique ability to promote a multilateral approach to addressing challenges, including by conveying OSCE values to constituencies across the OSCE area...

Some 70 representatives of national institutions of Ukraine and eight other OSCE participating States- the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Turkey – completed a two-day workshop in Kyiv on 20 February 2019 focusing on holistic approaches to countering trafficking in human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM recovered the wreckage of its long-range unmanned aerial vehicle near Krynychanske. It followed up on reports of a woman injured by a bullet in Dokuchaievsk and saw fresh damage to an apartment building in Yasynuvata. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement areas. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable inspection and repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas, as well as at checkpoints in Betmanove and near Verkhnoshyrokivske and Novoazovsk...

The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons increased at both BCPs compared to the previous week...

VIENNA, 20 February 2019 – Following the court decision in Kyiv ordering the disclosure of documents of the news portal Novoe Vremya, including the correspondence of one of its journalists, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today reiterated his call on the Ukrainian authorities to respect the right of journalists to protect the confidentiality of their sources.

MOSCOW, 19 February 2019 – On an official visit as OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Minister for Foreign and European Affairs of Slovakia, Miroslav Lajčák today met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss various issues on the OSCE agenda...