News and press releases

KYIV, 4 April 2018 – The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) will hold its regular news briefing on Thursday, 5 April, in Kyiv.

KYIV, 4 April 2018 – Today, as the world marks International Mine Awareness Day, the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Ertugrul Apakan, and the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, Vaidotas Verba, highlighted the importance of mine action in eastern Ukraine...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations outside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and at a heavy weapons holding area in an area of Donetsk region outside of government control.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Anadol. The Mission observed for the first time anti-tank mines near Starohnativka. The SMM continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station; it also facilitated repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema and to a water pipeline near Zaitseve. In Kyiv, the Mission monitored a march in the city centre...

A two-day training course for lawyers on helping victims of torture and their relatives to pursue moral compensation concluded on 31 March 2018 at the new Office of the Union of Lawyers of Tajikistan.

A two-day training course on practical views and ideas for addressing gender stereotypes and mentorship programmes for men gender champions concluded on 29 March 2018 at the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions between the evenings of 30 and 31 March, compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 31 March and 1 April, it recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number of ceasefire violations in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. Between the evenings of 1 and 2 April, it recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM observed damage to civilian properties caused by gunfire in Dokuchaievsk. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it observed ceasefire violations inside the Petrivske disengagement area and near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, as well as, again, in border areas near Izvaryne, Leonove, Sievernyi, Voznesenivka (near the border with the Russian Federation), at a checkpoint near Popasna and in Novohryhorivka.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission observed for the first time anti-tank mines near Zaitseve and Sosnivske. The SMM continued to facilitate access for workers to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station; it also facilitated repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema and to a water pipeline near Maiorsk. The SMM monitored the administrative boundary line in Kherson region and a gathering in Bila Krynytsia, Chernivtsi region. In Kyiv, the Mission continued to monitor a group of people near the entrance to a television station.

Strengthening the capacity of government officials from Tajikistan to counter terrorist financing was the aim of a two-day train-the-trainers course organized by the OSCE’s Transnational Threats Department, the OSCE Programme Office in Dushanbe and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime's Global Programme against Money Laundering, on 29 and 30 March 2018 in Vienna...