News and press releases

The importance of a well-governed and accountable security sector in effectively addressing transnational organized crime, including trafficking in persons and illicit drugs, corruption and terrorism, was the focus of a sub-regional expert-level workshop for senior practitioners and policy-makers from Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine in Minsk on 14 and 15 November 2018...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared to the previous reporting period. It observed for the first time anti-tank mines inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas. It observed weapons in violation near Volnovakha. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple and the clearance of unexploded ordnance near Marinka...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared to the previous 24 hours. The Mission followed up on reports of a civilian casualty in Marinka. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Bezimenne and Zaichenko. The SMM observed weapons in violation near Shymshynivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to houses and essential civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple. The SMM observed two protests in Kyiv and a gathering commemorating the founding of Karpatska Sich in Ivano Frankivsk...

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKIY, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons slightly decreased at both BCPs compared to the previous week...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region between the evenings of 9 and 10 November, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 10 and 11 November, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous 24 hours. Two SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicles came under small-arms fire in Kadiivka and Novotoshkivske. In non-government-controlled areas, the SMM monitored the security situation on the day of reported “elections” announced for 11 November. An SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle spotted fresh mortar impacts at the Bakhmut Agrarian Union’s pig farm near Novoluhanske. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as in three separate areas near the border with the Russian Federation, including Novoazovsk. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable demining near Nyzhnoteple...

COPENHAGEN, 12 November 2018 – In response to the holding of “elections” in the so-called “people’s republics” of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine over the weekend, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President George Tsereteli (Georgia) issued the following statement:

The Mission saw buildings with signs that read “polling stations”. It noted a slight increase in the presence of armed formations in some areas of non-government controlled Donetsk city centre. Some civilians expressed concern to the SMM about “voting”...