News and press releases

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Gunfire was directed at two SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicles near Pervomaiske and Manuilivka, Donetsk region. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas in Donetsk region. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk region. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. Its access was also restricted in Oleksandrivske and at a checkpoint near Novoazovsk, both in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk region...

More ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous 24 hours, were recorded by the SMM. The SMM observed fresh damage from small-arms fire to a functioning school in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and fresh impact craters near populated areas in Zolote-4/Rodina. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations and observed fresh impact craters inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. Its access was also restricted in non-government-controlled areas, including at checkpoints near Zaichenko and Kreminets and in Izvaryne, an area close to the border with the Russian Federation.*

Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 8 and 9 March, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and significantly fewer in Luhansk region. Compared with the previous 24 hours, between the evenings of 9 and 10 March, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM observed fresh shrapnel damage in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and fresh impact craters near Popasna. The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Petrivske disengagement area. It observed for the first time anti-tank mines on a road in the southern part of the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure in Luhansk region. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. Its access was also restricted in non-government-controlled areas, including at checkpoints near Novolaspa and Novoazovsk and at a heavy weapons holding area in Donetsk region. In Kyiv, the Mission monitored a gathering and later saw a car partially covered with soot...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. Following the beginning of a recommitment to the ceasefire coinciding with International Women’s Day at 00:01 on 8 March, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the hours before midnight. A man lost both lower limbs and suffered an eye injury due to an incident with unexploded ordnance in Makiivka. The Mission monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement area and elsewhere. Its access was also restricted near non-government-controlled Zaichenko.* In Kyiv, Kharkiv, Uzhhorod and Mariupol the SMM observed events on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

KYIV, 8 March 2018 – Yesterday, the Working Group on Security Issues reached a decision on the recommitment to the ceasefire, starting at 00:01 (Kiev time) on 8 March 2019. Welcoming this decision, the Special Representative of OSCE Chairperson-in-Office in Ukraine and in the Trilateral Contact Group, Ambassador Martin Sajdik informed the Trilateral Contact Group of it and issued the following statement in his personal capacity:

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It saw fresh damage to a residential house in Shchastia. The Mission saw multiple launch rocket systems in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It observed the presence of mines and explosive remnants of war in Donetsk region. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and near non-government-controlled Bezimenne and Dovzhanske, an area near the border with the Russian Federation. In Kyiv, the SMM saw posters in front of the Embassy of the Russian Federation demanding the release of sailors following the incidents at sea, near the Kerch Strait...

VIENNA, 8 March 2019 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today called on the Ukrainian authorities to reverse the entry ban to Ukraine imposed on Christian Wehrschütz, a journalist with the Austrian Public Service Broadcaster (ORF)...