News and press releases

On 17 October, an SMM patrol consisting of three vehicles and nine people arrived at a checkpoint of the armed formations on road H-15 near the Kargil plant in Kreminets (non-government-controlled, 16km south-west of Donetsk) at 12:01, intending to travel to non-government-controlled areas. Another SMM patrol, consisting of two vehicles and six people, intending to cross to government-controlled areas, arrived at the same checkpoint ten minutes later. At the checkpoint, two members of the armed formations denied both patrols passage, referring to instructions of their superiors “not to let the SMM pass through the checkpoint in either direction”.

On 17 October, at 16:03, the SMM observed that the vehicle gates of its Forward Patrol Base (FPB) in Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk) was being locked with a chain and a padlock, and that a vehicle with blue “DPR” plates was parked south of its gates, blocking the exit. It also saw two members of the armed formations standing next to the vehicle.

Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 236 ceasefire violations, including 72 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 32 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded 273 ceasefire violations, including 214 explosions. In the previous reporting

The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) is closely following the recent developments related to the incident in the disengagement area near Zolote on 13 October. On that day, the SMM patrols were present on both sides of the contact line near the disengagement area where they were monitoring adherence to a localized ceasefire to enable vegetation clearance along the road that traverses the area. All relevant observations concerning this activity were duly reflected in SMM Daily Report of 14 October 2021.

Summary In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded 32 ceasefire violations, including 20 explosions. In the previous reporting period, it recorded 230 ceasefire violations in the region. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded 207 ceasefire violations, including 157 explosions. In the previous reporting

COPENHAGEN, 15 October 2021 – Following an invitation of President of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Valentina Matvienko, OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Vice-President Pia Kauma (Finland) represented the PA at the Third Eurasian Women’s Forum in St. Petersburg on 13-15 October.

Eighteen young journalists from the Western Balkans gathered in Tirana from 10 to 14 October 2021 to discuss media challenges across the region and brainstorm on ways of tackling them...