News and press releases

The SMM recorded a similarly high number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared to the previous reporting period, with violence focusing around Donetsk city and the Avdiivka/Yasynuvata area. In Luhansk region the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations compared to the previous day. It followed up on reports of shelling and conducted crater analysis in Heorhiivka, Marinka, Popasna and Novooleksandrivka. The Mission continued to observe withdrawal of heavy weapons, observing weapons in violation of the withdrawal line and the presence of armoured combat vehicles in the security zone. The SMM faced restrictions to its freedom of movement.* The Mission followed up on reports about an explosion in Kharkiv.

The SMM recorded a higher number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared to the previous day, with violence focusing around Donetsk city, Yasynuvata and Svitlodarsk. In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded two ceasefire violations in one location. It followed up on reports of shelling in Novooleksandrivka, Kalynove and Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons, observing weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines and the presence of armoured combat vehicles and anti-aircraft weapons in the security zone, including in residential areas. The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential infrastructure in Pryshyb, Shchastia, and Krasnyi Lyman. It monitored also the situation of internally displaced persons in Odessa.

Supporting the process of ethical standards reform and developing a code of conduct for members of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian parliament, was the focus of an event, co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), the Verkhovna Rada, the Agency for Legislative Initiatives, the USAID RADA Program and the Netherlands Institute for Multi-party Democracy.

Reforming political party legislation in Ukraine was the focus of an expert workshop in Kyiv on 6 and 7 July 2016, jointly organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), the Ukrainian civil society organizations Agency for Legislative Initiatives (ALI) and the Civil Network “OPORA”. The event was hosted by the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy.

Building capacities of Ukrainian gender equality advisors was the focus of the workshop Mainstreaming Gender into Communication, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Equal Opportunities Caucus of the Parliament of Ukraine in Lviv, western Ukraine, on 24 June 2016.

The SMM observed a lower level of violence in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous day. The Mission continued to monitor the withdrawal of heavy weapons; it noted also armoured combat vehicles and other hardware in the security zone. Armed “DPR” members continue to keep the power supply to the SMM’s repeater in Donetsk city disconnected.* The Mission could neither locate nor recover any debris at the presumed crash site of an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in Korsun.

VIENNA, 2 June 2016 – Noting the investigation launched in Kyiv today, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatović, reiterated her call for a swift and transparent judicial procedure to identify those responsible of the disclosure of personal data of journalists accredited in the east of Ukraine...