News and press releases

KYIV, 3 June 2019- The Special Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), Ambassador Martin Sajdik, today made the following statement:...

KYIV, 3 June 2019 – Margareta Kiener Nellen and Kyriakos Hadjiyianni, the Chair and Rapporteur of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s human rights committee, respectively, today wrapped up a five-day mission to Ukraine, which included visits to the contact line in the east of the country, a centre for internally displaced persons, and medical facilities. Following the visit, which was supported by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM), the PA delegation stressed that renewed conflict resolution efforts, freedom of movement for civilians, and concrete humanitarian measures are urgently needed in Ukraine...

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...

YEREVAN / BAKU, 30 May 2019- The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group (Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, Stéphane Visconti of France, and Andrew Schofer of the United States of America), together with the Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Andrzej Kasprzyk, visited the region from 27 to 30 May...

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...