News and press releases

MINSK, 4 May 2018 – 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 4 May 2018:

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of a civilian casualty in Bakhmut. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including at one of the four crossing points visited at the border with the Russian Federation in non-government-controlled areas. The SMM observed a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines in Pobeda. The SMM continued to facilitate access to the Donetsk Filtration Station for Voda Donbassa water company employees to keep the station functioning; it heard ceasefire violations in the area despite security guarantees. It also continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to high-voltage power lines near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka and to the Petrivske pumping station. In Balakliia, the Mission followed up on reports of explosions at an ammunition storage depot. In Vinnytsia, the SMM monitored a gathering of internally displaced persons.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM observed damage to civilian properties in a residential area of Yasynuvata. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas and spotted new military presence inside the Zolote disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. The SMM saw for the first time anti-tank mines in a non-government-controlled neighbourhood of Zaitseve.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. Small-arms fire was directed at an SMM mini- unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) near non-government-controlled Novohryhorivka in Luhansk region. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties, including an employee of Voda Donbassa, in Donetsk city and Toretsk. Operations at the Donetsk Filtration Station remained suspended following the 17 April gunfire that wounded Voda Donbassa employees. The Mission facilitated the handover of possible human remains from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas.*

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of three people wounded by small-arms fire near Donetsk city. The SMM saw fresh damage caused by shelling in residential areas of Staromykhailivka. The SMM visited the Yunkom mine amidst concerns of possible radioactive contamination from planned flooding. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, at an airfield near Peremozhne, and in areas near Voznesenivka close to the border with the Russian Federation. The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of a boy who had been injured by an ordnance explosion in Kostiantynivka. The Mission facilitated the access of Voda Donbassa water company employees to and from the Donetsk Filtration Station – after employees came under small-arms fire and were wounded by it the day before – resulting in the suspension of the DFS operations. The SMM saw damage caused by shelling in residential areas of Dokuchaievsk. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere.*

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of Voda Donbassa employees injured by gunfire near the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS). It followed up on reports of shelling at an airfield in Luhansk city. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote and the Petrivske disengagement areas. Its access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere.*