News and press releases

Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 23 and 24 November, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Between the evenings of 24 and 25 November, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM monitored the security situation following developments at sea near the Kerch Strait. The Mission observed heavy weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in Kostiantynivka. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to a water pipeline in Pervomaisk and continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. In Kyiv, Lviv and Kherson, the Mission monitored public gatherings commemorating the 85th anniversary of Holodomor. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, as well as near Kostiantynivka, Novolaspa, Zaichenko and two areas close to the border with the Russian Federation, Voznesenivka and Novoazovsk.

The SMM followed up on the security situation in relation to reported developments at sea, near the Kerch Strait, where on 25 November, three vessels of the Naval Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces – two artillery boats “Berdiansk” and “Nikopol” and one tug boat “Yany Kapu” – en route from Odessa to Mariupol had been involved in an incident with vessels of the Russian Federation. Reportedly, weapons were used, six sailors were wounded and the three Ukrainian vessels were seized...

KYIV, 26 November 2018 – The OSCE Chairperson’s Special Representative to the Trilateral Contact Group, Martin Sajdik, and the Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM), Ertugrul Apakan, said today that they followed recent incidents at sea, near the Kerch Strait, with great concern...

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. • The SMM recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. • The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to critical infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. • Access for the SMM remained restricted in all three disengagement areas; it was also restricted in the Trudivski area of Donetsk city’s Petrovskyi district, Novolaspa and near Lozove*. • It continued to monitor queues of civilians at entry-exit checkpoints along the contact line. • The Mission monitored a public gathering in Ivano-Frankivsk commemorating events at Maidan.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. The Mission followed up on a civilian injured by small-arms fire in Olenivka. It observed fresh damage caused by shelling in a residential area of Zolote-5/ Mykhailivka. The SMM observed military presence inside the Zolote disengagement area and recorded ceasefire violations while positioned near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to critical infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas; it was also restricted at a compound in Starohnativka. It monitored delays for civilians at entry-exit checkpoints along the contact line. The Mission observed a convoy of trucks labelled “Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation” in Luhansk city...

Women need to be safe in public, the workplace and at home so they can unfold their full potential and actively contribute to political and socio-economic development, said Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine Ertugrul Apakan and Senior Project Officer of the OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine Jeff Erlich on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November 2018...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area. It observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines, mostly in non-government-controlled areas. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to the Petrivske water pumping station near Artema and to the Donetsk Filtration Station as well as assessments of a water pipeline near Pervomaisk. The Mission visited three border areas not under government control. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas; it was also restricted at compounds in Novoselivka and near Siedove, an area close to the border with the Russian Federation.