News and press releases

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission followed up on reports of a van hit by small-arms fire in Chermalyk. The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable possible demining activities in Luhansk region and repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM monitored a public gathering in Kyiv related to funding for housing for internally displaced persons. The Mission followed up on reports of an attack against a civil activist in Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad region. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas as well as near Zaichenko, Yasynuvata and Verkhnoshyrokivske.*

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission again observed military and military-type presence inside the Zolote disengagement area. It recorded ceasefire violations inside the area. The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission continued to observe long queues of civilians travelling across the contact line near Stanytsia Luhanska. It 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 as well as in Staromykhailivka and near Verkhnoshyrokivske. The Mission was prevented from continuing an unmanned aerial vehicle flight near the Zolote disengagement area*

Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The Mission heard and saw explosions assessed as impacts 70-100m east-south-east of its position near the Zolote disengagement area. It also recorded other ceasefire violations inside and near the disengagement area. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to essential civilian infrastructure in Luhansk region. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas as well as in Staromykhailivka and near Verkhnoshyrokivske.*

On 4 February, an SMM patrol consisting of five members and two armoured vehicles was positioned near a checkpoint of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, approximately 300m north of the disengagement area near Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk), to monitor the security situation.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Damage to a house in Chermalyk and small-arms damage to a hospital in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations and observed newly dug trenches inside the Zolote disengagement area. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable maintenance works to essential civilian infrastructure. Restrictions of the Mission’s access in all three disengagement areas continued.

Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The Mission saw the body of a deceased man near the entry-exit checkpoint at Stanytsia Luhanska. Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere.* The SMM followed up on reports of a confrontation at a church in Zhytomyr region.

KYIV, 17 January 2019 – Concluding a two-day official visit to Ukraine, the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Slovakia’s Foreign and European Affairs Minister Miroslav Lajčák said he was shocked by the alarming conditions of people living near the contact line in the country’s east, and called on the sides to step up their efforts for a peaceful political solution to the crisis.