News and press releases

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region. Windows damaged by small-arms fire in a residential area of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region. The Mission observed for the first time about 160 anti-tank mines near government-controlled Krasnohorivka. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM’s freedom of movement was also restricted near Novoazovsk and Hryhorivka, as well as at a checkpoint near Shevchenko and at a permanent storage site, all in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region...

MINSK, 5 June 2019 – The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, made the following statement to the press after the meeting of the TCG and its Working Groups in Minsk on 5 June 2019...

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region. The SMM saw a slightly injured man and damage from shelling at a mosque in non-government-controlled Donetsk city, as well as an injured man and damage from shelling to his house in non-government-controlled Uzhivka. The Mission saw fresh damage caused by small-arms-fire to an apartment building in non-government-controlled Dokuchaievsk. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission observed the presence of unexploded ordnance in government-controlled Novoluhanske. The Mission 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 and elsewhere...

VIENNA, 4 June 2019 – About 180 diplomats, experts and civil society representatives gathered today at the United Nations Vienna headquarters today to discuss the OSCE’s contribution to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission saw fresh damage from gunfire to an apartment in non-government-controlled Dokuchaievsk. The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near government-controlled Heivka and Ozarianivka. On the nights of 30 May and 2 June, an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle spotted trucks traveling from an area near the border with the Russian Federation to non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region. The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure. In Kharkiv, the SMM saw that a monument to General Zhukov was toppled. 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 non-government-controlled border crossing point near Dovzhanske...

Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons increased at both BCPs compared to the previous week.

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...