News and press releases

VIENNA, 31 January 2018 – A plan for joint action by the OSCE and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for the period 2018-2019 was signed by OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger and UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov today at the OSCE Secretariat in Vienna.

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 decreased at both BCPs compared to the previous week. The seventy-first Russian convoy crossed into Ukraine and returned though the Donetsk BCP...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Petrivske disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere, including to two compounds in Luhansk city. The SMM observed weapons in violations of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM facilitated and monitored repair works to a water pumping station near Artema. The Mission visited four border areas not under government control. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a gathering in the city centre and it continued to monitor the gathering outside the Parliament building. In Ivano-Frankivsk, Odessa, Kharkiv and Dnipro, the SMM observed events commemorating the battle of Kruty...

VIENNA, 30 January 2018 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today condemned recent violent attacks against reporters at an event in a hotel in Prague following the election of the Czech president...

Between the evenings of 26 and 27 January, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 27 and 28 January, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations along the contact line in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM observed damage caused by shelling in a residential area of Sakhanka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere, including in Ozerianivka, Sakhanka and to a heavy weapons permanent storage site in an area of Luhansk region beyond government control.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in Mariupol and Karlivka. The Mission visited three border areas not under government control...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere, including to a heavy weapons holding area in a government-controlled area.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Obozne. The Mission visited three border areas not under government control...

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission observed an impact site in a residential area of Sakhanka. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, where it observed calm situations. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere, including in Sorokyne, Olenivka and Luhansk city.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Sievierodonetsk and Klynove. The SMM facilitated and monitored repairs of water wells in Krasnyi Lyman. The SMM observed a ten-truck convoy marked “Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation” travelling through non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region and was prevented from following it into a compound in Luhansk city. The Mission visited two border areas not under government control...