News and press releases

VIENNA, 25 July 2022- OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) Acting Head of Mission Antje Grawe today denounced the persecution of SMM’s national Mission members, including those deprived of their liberty in non-government controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk, refuted claims against them, and called for their immediate and unconditional release.

VIENNA/WARSAW, 25 May 2022- OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid today reiterated their condemnation of persistent allegations against the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) and called for the immediate release of four national Mission members detained in Donetsk and Luhansk.

WARSAW/VIENNA, 28 April 2022 –OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Foreign Minister of Poland Zbigniew Rau and OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid have today announced that the OSCE would take immediate steps to implement the closure of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

WARSAW/VIENNA, 31 March 2022- OSCE Chairman-in-Office and Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau and Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid expressed their sincere regret that no consensus was reached on the extension of the mandate of OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, the Organization’s largest field presence and a key component of its response to the crisis in and around Ukraine.

Summary The Mission completed its temporary evacuation of international mission members from the Mission’s area of operations. National mission members are undertaking administration of the Mission’s premises and assets in anticipation of a return to operations in Ukraine. The SMM has suspended its

Summary The Mission received reports that the SMM premises in Mariupol were damaged due to shelling. The process of temporary evacuation of all international mission members is nearly complete. The last remaining group – the Chief Monitor and senior management team – will now leave Ukraine. The

Summary Following the instruction of 24 February to temporarily evacuate all SMM international mission members, the Kharkiv Monitoring Team completed its evacuation and the Kherson Monitoring Team started its evacuation. The relocation of national mission members formerly stationed in Kramatorsk

Summary During the night of 3 to 4 March, the Kherson Monitoring Team heard shooting. On 4 March, internet and mobile coverage became intermittent at the SMM’s office in Kherson city. Following the instruction of 24 February to temporarily evacuate all SMM international mission members, the Kharkiv

Summary On the morning of 3 March, the SMM continued to hear explosions around Kherson city. Following the instruction of 24 February to temporarily evacuate all SMM international mission members, the Kharkiv Monitoring Team continued its evacuation westwards through Ukraine, while the Kherson

Summary One national Mission member was reported killed by shelling in Kharkiv. During the evening of 1 March and morning of 2 March, the SMM continued to hear multiple explosions and heavy machine-gun fire in and around Kherson city. It also observed the movement of Russian Federation Armed Forces