News and press releases

A five-day training course aimed at strengthening the capacity of Kyrgyzstan to counter terrorist financing concluded in Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan on 31 August 2019. It was organized by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, in co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)...

On 1 September, an SMM patrol consisting of five people and two armoured vehicles was conducting an impact site assessment on Akhmatovoi Street in the north-eastern part of Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, non-government-controlled, 23km north-east of Mariupol). Three members of the armed formations as well as two cameramen were also present.

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • Small-arms fire was assessed as directed at an SMM mini unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) near non-government-controlled Tavrycheske. • The SMM saw that the former forward positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and of the armed formations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area continued to be dismantled. • The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near the disengagement area Zolote and observed military hardware inside the Petrivske disengagement area. • The SMM saw a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines in government-controlled Mariupol.

VIENNA, 31 August 2019 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, strongly condemned today the shooting of the journalist, Levent Uysal, in Balıkesir, Turkey.

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • The SMM saw that the former forward positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and of the armed formations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area continued to be dismantled. • The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside and near the disengagement area near Zolote. • The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region. • It monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs to and the operation of essential civilian infrastructure. • Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at a checkpoint in non-government-controlled Verkhnoshyrokivske.*

An OSCE-organized training course in the interpretation of x-ray images for 20 customs and transport police officers working at aviation checkpoints took place in Ashgabat from 19 to 30 August 2019...

KYIV, 29 August 2019 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made today the following statement: