News and press releases

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a similar number of ceasefire violations, although more explosions, in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. In Holmivskyi the SMM heard small-arms fire near the area where it was flying an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas where its access remained restricted.* The SMM camera recorded explosions inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. An SMM UAV spotted a mortar within the respective withdrawal lines inside a residential area in Pikuzy. The SMM facilitated the recovery of the body of a dead civilian in the Trudovskyi area of Petrovskyi district in Donetsk city. It monitored repairs of a bridge near Yenakiieve and followed up on reports of a lack of electricity in parts of Zolote. The Mission visited a border area not under government control in Luhansk region. The SMM monitored protests in Kyiv, Kherson and Kharkiv...

ASTANA, 14 July 2017 – A three-day needs assessment mission to explore how the OSCE can support Kazakhstan in facilitating regional trade concluded today in Astana...

State officials from Turkmenistan gained expertise on protecting freedom of religion or belief while promoting security at a train-the-trainer course organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights(ODIHR) in Warsaw from 11 to 14 July 2017.  The main focuses of the training

The third Inter-University School on Human Rights welcomed 25 students from 13 universities and 10 countries of the OSCE region from 10 to 14 July 2017 in Chernihiv, Ukraine. The annual event serves as a platform for strengthening the capacity of future legal professionals in human rights protection...

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.

More international co-operation and a transparent and comprehensive approach are required to build on results achieved so far in managing stockpiles of conventional ammunition in a safe and secure way, said speakers at the meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation held under Russia’s Chairmanship on 12 July. The event focused on practices of managing stockpiles and destroying surpluses in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Russia and Switzerland...

Some 50 experts, including representatives of governments and international organizations, met to discuss effective practices and educational approaches to addressing anti-Semitism at an event organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and UNESCO on 13 July