News and press releases

• Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 8 and 9 February, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • Compared with the previous 24 hours, between the evenings of 9 and 10 February, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • In Kadiivka, the Mission saw gunfire damage to a truck that was reportedly collecting coal as part of humanitarian aid. • The SMM saw fresh mortar impact craters near residential houses in Kriakivka and near the checkpoint of the armed formations on the southern edge of the disengagement area near Zolote. • The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside and near the Zolote disengagement area. • It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. It was also restricted in Khlibodarivka, near Verkhnoshyrokivske, near Izvaryne and Novoazovsk, close to the border with the Russian Federation, as well as at a permanent storage site in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region. • The Mission learned of a reported temporary school closure due to shelling in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The SMM followed up on reports of a man who died while at a checkpoint in Kreminets. The SMM followed up on reports of damage to a truck transporting coal on behalf of an international organization. It recorded ceasefire violations inside and near the Zolote disengagement area and a ceasefire violation inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The Mission saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas in Donetsk region. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works and demining activities to essential civilian infrastructure in Luhansk and Donetsk regions. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and in non-government-controlled Verkhnoshyrokivske, Staromykhailivka and Horlivka.* The Mission monitored a public gathering in front of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Kharkiv. It followed up on reports of graffiti on a church in Zaporizhzhia.

Bratislava, 8 February 2019 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Slovak Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák, today called the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin to discuss the upcoming 31 March 2019 presidential election in Ukraine. Among various issues addressed by the ministers was the support of OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in observing the upcoming election, provided in response to an official invitation from Ukraine.

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. • The SMM observed recent impact craters in Pikuzy and Molodizhne. • It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk region. • The Mission facilitated and monitored the transfer of persons convicted before the conflict from non-government-controlled to government-controlled areas in Luhansk region. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas as well as in Novoazovsk, an area near the border with the Russian Federation.* • The SMM monitored a public gathering in Hlyboka district, Chernivtsi region, in relation to churches changing affiliation in the district.

VIENNA, 8 February 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, today expressed his concern regarding the recent decision of the Supervisory Board of the public service company UA:PBC in Ukraine to dismiss Zurab Alasania from the chairmanship post at the organization...

Warsaw, 7 February 2019 – Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today expressed her regret over the decision by the Ukrainian authorities to block Russian citizens from taking part in the ODIHR election observation mission for the 31 March presidential election in Ukraine.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission followed up on reports of a van hit by small-arms fire in Chermalyk. The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable possible demining activities in Luhansk region and repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM monitored a public gathering in Kyiv related to funding for housing for internally displaced persons. The Mission followed up on reports of an attack against a civil activist in Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad region. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas as well as near Zaichenko, Yasynuvata and Verkhnoshyrokivske.*