News and press releases

On 21 December 2017 at 06:31 (Moscow time), the seventieth Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 21 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guards and customs services prior to their crossing into Ukraine. All 21 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 16:39 on 21 December.

Members of the OSCE Mediterranean Points of Contact Network on border management and security completed a four-day intensive training course on various topics related to their work on 22 December 2017 in Vienna.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties from Novoluhanske and Snizhne. The SMM continued to assess damage to civilian properties in residential areas in Novoluhanske. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near all three and heard an explosion assessed as an outgoing mortar round 250m north of its position near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere.* The Mission saw a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines near Travneve. It observed military presence and mines in and around Travneve, Dolomitne, Holmivskyi and Novoluhanske. The Mission visited two border areas outside of government control.

VIENNA, 21 December 2017 – OSCE Chairperson-in-Office and Austria’s Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl addressed ambassadors and representatives of the OSCE’s participating States and Partners for Co-operation at the Permanent Council in Vienna today.

An expert from the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) was in Podgorica on 21 December 2017 to present informal comments on draft amendments to election-related laws in Montenegro...

An OSCE-supported two-day training seminar for some 20 representatives of Kazakhstan’s National Bank on the use of cryptocurrencies concluded on 21 December 2017 in Almaty, Kazakhstan...

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM heard explosions less than 600m from its forward patrol base in Popasna; subsequently, SMM staff left the base. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties from Novoluhanske, Kadiivka and Holmivskyi. The SMM assessed damage to civilian properties in residential areas in Pervomaisk and Kadiivka. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and near all three. Its access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere.* In Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, the SMM followed up on the withdrawal of Russian Federation Armed Forces officers of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC); it monitored their passing through the entry-exit checkpoint near Maiorsk and exiting Ukraine at a border crossing point in Kharkiv region. The SMM visited three border areas outside of government control.