News and press releases

KYIV, 22 December 2017- Ertugrul Apakan, Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), today welcomed the recommitment to the ceasefire made by the Trilateral Contact Group and other signatories of the Minsk agreements...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission followed up on reports of civilian casualties from Yasynuvata. The SMM observed damage to civilian properties in residential areas in Novoluhanske, Dokuchaievsk and Yasynuvata. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near all three. Its access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere, including at a checkpoint near Verkhnoshyrokivske and a compound in Luhansk city.* The Mission saw weapons in violation in Sievierodonetsk and near Novotroitske. It observed convoys of trucks marked, “Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation”, in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM visited four border areas outside of government control...

A two-day roundtable discussion on airport security organized by the Border Security and Management Unit of the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in close co-operation with the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, concluded on 21 December 2017 in Podgorica.

VIENNA, 22 December 2017 – OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Désir today condemned the violent attack on Vyacheslav Prudnikov, a journalist forthe news website “Kavkazskiy Uzel”, in the town Krasniy Sulin in the Rostov region.

On 21 December 2017 at 06:31 (Moscow time), the seventieth Russian convoy arrived at the Donetsk Border Crossing Point (BCP). A total of 21 vehicles were checked by the Russian border guards and customs services prior to their crossing into Ukraine. All 21 vehicles had crossed back into the Russian Federation by 16:39 on 21 December.

Members of the OSCE Mediterranean Points of Contact Network on border management and security completed a four-day intensive training course on various topics related to their work on 22 December 2017 in Vienna.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties from Novoluhanske and Snizhne. The SMM continued to assess damage to civilian properties in residential areas in Novoluhanske. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near all three and heard an explosion assessed as an outgoing mortar round 250m north of its position near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in the disengagement areas and elsewhere.* The Mission saw a weapon in violation of withdrawal lines near Travneve. It observed military presence and mines in and around Travneve, Dolomitne, Holmivskyi and Novoluhanske. The Mission visited two border areas outside of government control.