News and press releases

BANJA LUKA, 10 August 2017 – On the occasion of International Youth Day, the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) organized a two-day workshop for youth on Women, Peace and Security, Youth, Peace and Security and the associated United Nations Security Council resolutions, which concluded today in Banja Luka...

On 8 August, at 20:20 the SMM lost signal of its newly-installed cameras – one thermal and one CCTV – on the roof of the Donetsk Filtration Station’s (DFS) office building (see picture). The DFS is located between government-controlled Avdiivka and “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata, about 15km north of Donetsk city. On 9 August, an SMM patrol inspected the cameras at the DFS and found out that the thermal camera had been damaged by small-arms fire...

Seventeen Afghan border service officers completed a four-week OSCE patrolling and leadership training course on 9 August 2017 at the Gissar Training Centre, Tajikistan...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; its access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including in Verkhnoshyrokivske.* It followed up on reports from 2 August of an explosion near non-government controlled Voznesenivka. The Mission saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It facilitated and monitored repairs to a water pipe in Zolote, the Petrivske pumping station and the Shchastia power plant. It facilitated and monitored mine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) clearance, co-ordinated by the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC), enabling the SMM to pass along the M03 road between Svitlodarsk and Debaltseve. The SMM observed a protest outside the Regional Prosecutor’s office in Lviv.

KAMENSK-SHAKHTINSKIY, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons decreased at both BCPs...

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, but more explosions in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas. The SMM camera in the Zolote disengagement area recorded one ceasefire violation on the night of 5 August, assessed as outside the disengagement area. The Mission’s access remained restricted there and elsewhere. Armed “DPR” members impeded the SMM’s access to areas south and east of Novoazovsk near the border with the Russian Federation not under government control. The Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) was unable to facilitate the demining of the Shchastia bridge where the SMM was again denied access and its unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) again spotted anti-tank mines south of the bridge.* The Mission confirmed reports of civilian casualties in Dachne and followed up on reports of shelling in Zaporozhets. The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs of a water pipeline in Zolote. The Mission visited two border areas not under government control*.

Increasing operational awareness to detect forged documents and imposters is the aim of a three-day advanced training course for specialized police officers organized by the OSCE Secretariat’s Transnational Threats Department with support from the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, which started in Prishtinë/Priština on 8 August 2017...