News and press releases

VIENNA, 12 August 2018 – Special Representative of the Italian Chairperson-in-Office for the South Caucasus, Ambassador Günther Bächler, today made the following statement on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the ceasefire in the 2008 war in Georgia...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous reporting period, and for the third day in a row, no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The SMM observed damage to a residential house in Yasynuvata as the result of shooting. The SMM observed at least two armed probable Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel inside the Zolote disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and again near Zaichenko and Bezimenne, as well as Izvaryne, Sievernyi, and Novoazovsk, near the border with the Russian Federation. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in Lobacheve. An SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle spotted for the first time four electronic warfare systems in Chornukhyne. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical water and electrical infrastructure in Luhansk region...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous reporting period, and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The Mission observed fresh damage from gunfire to a garage door in a residential area of Yasynuvata. It continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. The SMM observed ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area and Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel inside the area, on the northern side of the road bridge. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and again near Bezimenne and Zaichenko.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical water and electrical infrastructure in Luhansk region...

VIENNA, 10 August 2018 – Following the recent blocking of news websites due to allegations of defamation in Azerbaijan, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today urgently called on the authorities to reform the laws and regulations affecting media and to encourage pluralistic debate on all issues of public importance, both off– and online...

The OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe organized a workshop on border re-demarcation best practices for 21 border officials from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan from 6 to10 August 2018 in Dushanbe...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. An explosion occurred less than 150m from an SMM patrol at the entry-exit checkpoint near Marinka. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, and observed ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as in Novolaspa and, again, in Novoazovsk, Bezimenne and Zaichenko.* The Mission’s long-range unmanned aerial vehicle spotted convoys of trucks entering and exiting Ukraine via a dirt track where there are no border crossing facilities in a non-government-controlled area of Donetsk region in the middle of the night. The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical civilian infrastructure in Luhansk region...

Mine risk awareness, human rights, gender mainstreaming and the importance of local population involvement in border protection were the focus of three 14-day mobile training courses, that were organized by the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe and concluded on 9 August 2019...