Spot Report by the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM): Armed man shoots at and violently attacks SMM in “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata

This report is for the media and the general public.

On 20 June an SMM patrol (1) comprising two armoured vehicles and six members was stationary at an observation post at “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata railway station (16km north-east of Donetsk), when it saw two men in military-style attire, one armed with an assault rifle (AK-type) walking in a western direction about 80m away. Another SMM patrol (2) comprising two armoured vehicles and six members was positioned about 150m west of the other patrol and about 100m from the two men. At 11:06, both patrols heard one burst of small-arms fire assessed as coming from the area of the two men.

Then, the two men, both with their faces covered - one with a balaclava, the other with a scarf - moved towards SMM patrol (2) and began to aggressively shout at the SMM. They then left. At 11:10 both SMM patrols attempted to leave the area. As SMM patrol (2) began to leave, the armed man ran to the second vehicle, tried to open the door on the driver’s side and attempted to break the driver’s side window with his gunstock. Failing to do either, he then ran after the first vehicle from SMM patrol (2). Following this, the armed man turned and pointed his assault rifle at the driver and front-seat passenger of the second vehicle from SMM patrol (2). Both patrol members raised their hands in response. When the armed man moved to the side of the vehicle to try to open the front passenger-side door, the driver accelerated. As the SMM vehicle was driving away, the armed man hit the rear right-side window with his gunstock, causing minor damage. The SMM then saw him fire a burst of small-arms fire into the air, followed by three shots that the SMM assessed were fired at the patrol vehicle. The patrol vehicle was not hit. At 11:21, as all SMM patrol vehicles were leaving the area the SMM observed the armed man pointing his assault rifle at the SMM. The SMM returned safely to base in Donetsk city.

The SMM informed the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination and asked it to follow up on the incident.