News and press releases

VIENNA, 28 July 2017 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today expressed deep concern about the continued detention of journalist Stanislav Aseev in eastern Ukraine...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. On two occasions the Mission interrupted unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flights due to ceasefire violations near them, assessed at least on one occasion as aimed at the UAV.* The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties and damage to civilian properties caused by shelling in Kashtanove and in Donetsk city.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. In the Trudovskyi area of Petrovskyi district in Donetsk city, an armed man told the Mission not to fly an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV); the SMM then heard small-arms fire near the area where it was flying the UAV.* The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties and damage to civilian properties caused by shelling in Donetsk city.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including a similar number of explosions, compared with the previous reporting period. It continued monitoring the disengagement areas; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Siedove, and at a checkpoint in Novoazovsk near the border with the Russian Federation, where armed men stopped the SMM and asked all SMM members to step out of their vehicles.* The SMM continued to monitor the situation of civilians travelling across the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. It facilitated and monitored the completion of repair works to the Mykhailivka-Almazna high-voltage power lines near Pervomaisk, which supplies electricity to approximately 150,000 people. The SMM monitored three peaceful protests in Kyiv.

Thirteen human rights defenders from across Ukraine took part in a train-the-trainers workshop on human rights monitoring organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) from 3 to 7 July 2017 in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, and more in Luhansk region – including almost 300 explosions overnight while in Popasna – compared with the previous reporting period.The Mission continued monitoring the three disengagement areas and recorded ceasefire violations assessed as inside the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolotedisengagement areas.

Between the evenings of 23 and 24 June the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 24 and 25 June the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours.