Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 25 May 2017

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM’s operations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions remained restricted following the fatal incident of 23 April near Pryshyb; these restrictions continued to limit the Mission’s observations. The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region – including, however, fewer explosions – compared with the previous reporting period. It recorded more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The Mission monitored the disengagement areas near Zolote and heard one explosion assessed as outside the Stanytsia Luhanska area. Its access remained restricted there and elsewhere.* The SMM visited a border area not under government control. The Mission observed almost 40 trucks - some marked with “Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation” - travelling towards Makiivka in Donetsk region and moving east near Teple in Luhansk region.

The SMM recorded an increase in the total number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region but fewer explosions (230), compared with the previous reporting period (260).[1]

While in “DPR”-controlled Donetsk city centre on the night of 24-25 May the SMM heard 26 undetermined explosions 5-7km north-north-west.

On the night of 24-25 May the SMM camera at Oktiabr mine (9km north-west of Donetsk city centre) recorded one undetermined explosion followed by ten projectiles in flight from north-east to south-west, followed by one projectile in flight from south-west to north-east, all 4-6km north-east. Thereafter the SMM camera recorded aggregated totals of 34 tracer rounds in flight from west to east, four projectiles in flight from north-west to south-east, one from south-east to north-west, two from north-east to south-west and one undetermined explosion, all 4-6km north-east of the camera.

On the night of 24-25 May the SMM camera in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) recorded three periods (lasting a total of about three minutes) of uncountable numbers of tracer rounds in flight from west to east, and a total of seven undetermined explosions, about 650 tracer rounds in flight from west to east, 44 projectiles in flight from west to east and six from east to west, all at undetermined distances north-east.

While in government-controlled Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk) on the same night, the SMM heard 44 undetermined explosions 4-7km south-east and south and bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire 3-6km south-east. During the daytime on 25 May the SMM heard bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire 3-5km south-west.

While in “DPR”-controlled Horlivka (39km north-east of Donetsk) on the night of 24 May the SMM heard 16 outgoing explosions: six assessed as infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-1) cannon (73mm) fire; four assessed as IFV (BMP-2) cannon (30mm) fire and six explosions assessed as automatic grenade launcher fire, all 7km south-west. It also heard and saw a burst of anti-aircraft cannon (ZU-23, 23mm) fire 11km south-west, in the general area of government-controlled Troitske (30km north of Donetsk).

While in “DPR”-controlled Debaltseve (58km north-east of Donetsk) on the early morning of 25 May the SMM heard 40 explosions assessed as outgoing rounds and 40 subsequent explosions assessed as their impacts at an unknown distance north-west.

On the night of 24-25 May the SMM camera in government-controlled Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk) recorded 15 explosions assessed as impacts followed by one projectile in flight from south-west to north-east and 28 tracer rounds in flight from north to south, all 4-6km south-east and east. The SMM camera then recorded aggregated totals of 23 undetermined explosions, 95 projectiles and tracer rounds in flight from south-west to north-east, 42 projectiles and tracer rounds from north-east to south-west, 19 tracer rounds in flight from north to south and 23 tracer rounds from south to north, 62 tracer rounds in flight from west to east, 32 projectiles and tracer rounds from north-west to east and three airbursts, all 4-6km south-east and east of the camera. 

On 25 May, positioned in “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata (16km north-east of Donetsk) the SMM recorded 22 undetermined explosions: 16 at an unknown distance north-east; five at locations 3-5km west and one 10km north-east. The SMM also heard uncountable overlapping explosions (that lasted for about one minute) assessed as impacts of automatic grenade launcher rounds 2-3km west and small-arms fire 1-3km west and 1km north-east.

In Luhansk region the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including 28 explosions, compared with three in the previous reporting period.

Positioned on the edge of the Zolote disengagement area north of “LPR”-controlled Pervomaisk (58km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard a total of 27 undetermined explosions (13 in the morning and 14 in the afternoon) 8-10km west, all of which were assessed as outside the disengagement area.

The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement process and to pursue full access to the disengagement areas of Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), Zolote (60km west of Luhansk) and Petrivske (41km south of Donetsk), as foreseen in the Framework Decision of the Trilateral Contact Group relating to disengagement of forces and hardware of 21 September 2016. The SMM’s access remained restricted but the Mission was able to partially monitor them.*

Positioned inside the disengagement area in an “LPR”-controlled area 300m south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge the SMM heard one undetermined explosion 2km north, assessed as outside the disengagement area.

The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons, in implementation of the Package of Measures and its Addendum, as well as the Memorandum.

Beyond the withdrawal lines the SMM observed a stationary self-propelled anti-aircraft missile system (9K33 Osa) near government-controlled Predtechyne (58km north of Donetsk) on 24 May.

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles and anti-aircraft weapons[2] in the security zone. In government-controlled areas the SMM observed a stationary IFV (BMP-1) at a checkpoint in Zolote, and a stationary armoured personnel carrier (BTR-80) near government-controlled Lebedynske (16km north-east of Mariupol).

In government-controlled Bakhmut (67km north of Donetsk) on 24 May the SMM observed a Ukrainian Armed Forces convoy of two pioneer demining vehicles (BMR-1) being transported on trailers, two Ural trucks carrying new anti-tank mines and an armoured recovery vehicle on a T-64 chassis. 

The SMM followed up on information provided by the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) on allegations of shelling in government-controlled Zelenyi Hai (46km south-west of Donetsk). Due to security constraints the SMM was not able to reach the site of the alleged impacts. A woman (aged in her fifties) told the SMM that on the night of 24-25 May she had heard ten muffled explosions to the north-east, followed by an equal number of much louder explosions immediately south-west of the village, between midnight and 01:00. She told the SMM that there were no civilian casualties. An employee (woman, aged in her forties) of the village administration in government-controlled Valerianivka (51km south-west of Donetsk), two women (aged in their twenties) in government-controlled Volodymyrivka (43km south-west of Donetsk) and a Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier (man, aged in his thirties) in Olhynka (40km south-west of Donetsk) all told the SMM that they had also heard explosions in the area.

The acting chief of police in government-controlled Kurakhove (40km west of Donetsk) told the SMM that Civil-Military Administration officials had instructed pupils and staff from schools number 1 and 2 in Marinka to take shelter in the basement due to heavy shelling in the area at around 11:30 on 25 May. Later, the headmaster of school number 2 said that children had taken shelter and that parents had then come to the school to take their children home.

The SMM observed a convoy of 14 covered white trucks bearing the Russian flag and with “Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation” written on the sides. The convoy was escorted by an “LPR” vehicle moving east near “LPR”-controlled Teple (formerly Krasnodon, 33km south-east of Luhansk). The SMM also saw one covered white truck escorted by an “LPR” vehicle travelling between “LPR”-controlled Khriashchuvate (10km south-east of Luhansk) and Luhansk city. In “DPR”-controlled Makiivka (12km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM observed a convoy (with civilian Russian Federation licence plates from the Rostov-on-Don region) of 22 covered trucks with the emblem of the Russian Federation on the side, three “DPR” Kamaz trucks, and “DPR” escort vehicles front and rear.

The SMM visited a border area not under control of the government. At the border crossing point in Izvaryne (52km south-east of Luhansk) for about an hour, the SMM observed 70 civilian vehicles (55 with Ukrainian licence plates, 12 with Russian Federation licence plates, and three with “LPR” plates) waiting to exit Ukraine. The SMM also observed two buses (with Ukrainian licence plates), one of which carried a sign with “Stakhanov-Moscow” in the window. Three covered trucks and 38 pedestrians entered Ukraine during this time.

The SMM continued monitoring in Kherson, Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, and Kyiv.

*Restrictions of SMM’s freedom of movement or other impediments to fulfilment of its mandate

The SMM’s monitoring and freedom of movement are restricted by security hazards and threats, including risks posed by mines, unexploded ordnance (UXO) and other impediments – which vary from day to day. The SMM’s mandate provides for safe and secure access throughout Ukraine. All signatories of the Package of Measures have agreed on the need for this safe and secure access, that restriction of the SMM’s freedom of movement constitutes a violation, and on the need for rapid response to these violations. They have also agreed that the JCCC should contribute to such response and co-ordinate mine clearance.

Denial of access:

• Armed “LPR” members told the SMM that that they could not guarantee the safety of the Mission in the Zolote disengagement area (58km west of Luhansk) due to the possible presence of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO). The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.

• A Ukrainian officer of the JCCC told the SMM that no demining activities had taken place during the previous 24 hours in the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and that, with the exception of the main road, the SMM’s safety could not be guaranteed in the surrounding areas due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.
• The SMM could not travel across the bridge in government-controlled Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk) as Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel said the road south of the bridge is still mined. The SMM informed the JCCC.

Conditional access:

• Armed “DPR” members stopped the SMM and checked the trunks of vehicles at the entry-exit checkpoint 7km north of Horlivka.

[1] Please see the annexed table for complete breakdown of the ceasefire violations as well as map of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions marked with locations featured in this report.

[2] This hardware is not proscribed by the provisions of the Minsk agreements on the withdrawal of weapons.