News and press releases

Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 31 May and 1 June, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. Between the evenings of 1 and 2 June, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous 24 hours and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. A woman was injured by shrapnel in Pikuzy. Residential buildings were damaged by small-arms fire and shrapnel in Chermalyk and Dokuchaievsk. The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The Mission’s freedom of movement was also restricted at a border crossing point outside government control and at a railway station near Voznesenivka, at a checkpoint in government-controlled Bohdanivka, and at checkpoints in non-government-controlled Zaichenko and Novoazovsk. The SMM saw a gathering of members of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine in Chernivtsi...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. A man sustained shrapnel injuries in Donetskyi. The Mission saw fresh damage caused by gunfire to civilian properties in Vesele. The SMM observed for the first time anti-tank mines near Krasnohorivka and Staromykhailivka. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to critical civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as to enable the recovery and transfer of the body of deceased Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel from non-government- to government-controlled areas in Luhansk region. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. The Mission’s freedom of movement was also restricted at a checkpoint near non-government-controlled Zaichenko...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The Mission saw fresh damage from shelling to civilian properties in non-government-controlled Sentianivka. Small-arms fire was directed at an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle near non-government-controlled Pervomaisk. The Mission observed trench extensions in and near the Petrivske disengagement area. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The Mission’s freedom of movement was also restricted at checkpoints near non-government-controlled Zaichenko and Verkhnoshyrokivske...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. The SMM followed up on reports of two injured civilians (including a child), as well as observed damage from shelling to residential houses in Horlivka and Yasynuvata. The SMM saw anti-tank mines for the first time near non-government-controlled Sentianivka and Olenivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. In Lviv, the SMM followed up on reports of an arson attack at an Alfa-Bank branch. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. It was also restricted at a checkpoint near non-government-controlled Novoazovsk...

VIENNA, 30 May 2019 – The OSCE bid farewell to the Chief Monitor of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), Ambassador Ertuğrul Apakan, at a meeting of the Permanent Council in Vienna today with addresses by OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Slovakia’s Minister for Foreign and European Affairs Miroslav Lajčák and OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote and Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement areas, as well as a new trench and position inside the latter. The SMM saw anti-tank mines for the first time near non-government-controlled Olenivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. It was also restricted twice at a checkpoint near non-government-controlled Verkhnoshyrokivske...

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. The Mission saw fresh damage from small-arms fire to civilian properties in non-government-controlled Dokuchaievsk and Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas...