Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 24 January 2018

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous reporting period and one ceasefire violation in Luhansk region (as in the previous reporting period). The Mission continued to follow up on reports of civilian casualties in Olenivka and followed up on new reports of civilian casualties in Dokuchaievsk and of civilians injured from mishandling of unexploded ordnance in Donetsk city and Verkhnotoretske. In Dokuchaievsk, the SMM also saw damage caused by gunfire to a residential building. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, where it observed calm situations. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere.* The SMM facilitated and monitored repairs of essential infrastructure in Krasnyi Lyman. The Mission visited three border areas not under government control.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations[1], including, however, more explosions (83), compared with the previous reporting period (65 explosions).

On the evening of 23 January, while in government-controlled Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 65 undetermined explosions, about 240 bursts and shots of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, and about 20 minutes of uncountable overlapping bursts and shots of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 3-6km south-east.

In continuation of the sequence of ceasefire violations recorded in the early evening of 23 January (see SMM Daily Report 24 January 2018), on the evening and night of 23-24 January, the SMM camera at the Donetsk Filtration Station (15km north of Donetsk) recorded three undetermined explosions and 47 projectiles in flight (29 from west to east and 18 from east to west), all 0.5-1km south. In the afternoon of 24 January, the same camera recorded two projectiles from west to east 0.5-1km south.

On the evening of 23 January, the SMM camera 1km south-west of Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) recorded five projectiles in flight from east to west followed by a projectile from west to east. In the afternoon of 24 January, the same camera recorded a projectile from west to east followed by four undetermined explosions, all 5-8km north.

During the day on 24 January, positioned on the south-western edge of “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata (16km north-east of Donetsk) for about 90 minutes, the SMM heard eight undetermined explosions and about 30 shots of small-arms fire, all 2-4km at distances ranging from north-west to north-east. Positioned at the railway station in Yasynuvata for over four hours, the SMM heard three undetermined explosions and 24 bursts and shots of small-arms fire, all 2-4km at distances ranging from west-south-west to north-west.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded one ceasefire violation (explosion) as in the previous reporting period. Positioned on the eastern edge of government-controlled Popasna (69km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard an undetermined explosion 1km east.

The SMM followed up on the civilian casualties at a checkpoint near “DPR”-controlled Olenivka (23km south-west of Donetsk). (See SMM Daily Report 22 January 2018). At a morgue in “DPR”-controlled Dokuchaievsk (30km south-west of Donetsk), staff told the SMM that on 21 January, the body of a 57 year-old man had been brought there from Olenivka. The staff said that the man had died from a gunshot wound and that during the autopsy, a bullet had been found in his head.

The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties and saw damage caused by gunfire to a residential building in Dokuchaievsk. At 83 Tsentralnia Street, the SMM saw a couple in their sixties: the woman had her lower left leg wrapped in a bandage with blood on it and the man said he had sustained injuries to his shoulder and back from shrapnel and broken glass (but the SMM did not see them). The couple said that they were in their apartment at 83 Tsentralna Street at 16:30 on 22 January when they saw an incoming ball of fire from the west. The SMM saw that there were holes in the west-facing balcony of the apartment, that there was shrapnel damage to the inner walls and that all windows of the balcony and the apartment were broken and covered with foil. The SMM assessed that the damage was caused by a projectile originating from a westerly direction that had penetrated the lower part of the balcony and exploded on impact after hitting the inner wall.

The SMM followed up on reports of two civilians injured after mishandling explosive devices. At the Trauma Hospital in “DPR”-controlled Donetsk city, the SMM saw a man (born in 1997) who had lost three fingers on his left hand and half of a finger on his right hand and had minor marks on his face. The man said that he was injured by the explosion of a green object (15cm in diameter) that he had found and picked up on 23 January at Fizkulturna Street 1 in Leninskyi district of Donetsk city.

At a hospital in government-controlled Toretsk (43km north of Donetsk), a doctor told the SMM that a 30 year-old man had been admitted on 23 January with an open leg fracture and several soft tissue wounds, caused by the detonation of a shell. The SMM saw the man who told the SMM that he was injured by the detonation of a shell that he had found on the street close to his house in government-controlled Verkhnotoretske (23km north-east of Donetsk) and taken home.

The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement process and to pursue full access to the disengagement areas near 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 near all three disengagement areas, the SMM observed calm situations.

The SMM observed that the wooden ramp on the broken Stanytsia Luhanska bridge was extremely slippery due to ice and that pedestrians were crossing with difficulty trying to lean against the hand rails, which are not stable.

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 withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites, the SMM saw three tanks (T-64) stationary near government-controlled Spirne (96km north of Donetsk).

The SMM revisited a permanent storage site beyond respective withdrawal lines in a non‑government-controlled area of Luhansk region and noted as missing four tanks (three T-64 and one T-72).

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles and an anti-aircraft gun[2] in the security zone. The SMM saw two infantry fighting vehicles (BMP-1) and a reconnaissance vehicle (BRDM-2 RKhB) near Popasna and an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23-2, 23mm) loaded on a military-type truck in the eastern outskirts of Donetsk city.

The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs works to water wells in “LPR”‑controlled Krasnyi Lyman (30km north-west of Luhansk).

The SMM visited three border areas not under government control. At a border crossing point near Izvaryne (52km south-east of Luhansk), the SMM saw eight trucks with covered cargo areas (three with Ukrainian, four with Russian Federation and one with Belarusian licence plates) and nine cars (five with Ukrainian and four with Russian Federation licence plates) in a queue to exit Ukraine. During the SMM’s two-hour visit, it saw seven of the cars and 17 pedestrians (men and women of different ages) exiting Ukraine and a car with Russian Federation licence plates and eight pedestrians (men and women of different ages) entering Ukraine.

At two border crossing points, one near Verkhnoharasymivka (57km south-east of Luhansk) and the other near Ulianivske (61km south-east of Donetsk), the SMM observed no pedestrians or vehicles entering or exiting Ukraine during visits of about half an hour at each.

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 Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) should contribute to such response and co-ordinate mine clearance. Nonetheless, the armed formations in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions frequently deny the SMM access to areas adjacent to Ukraine’s border outside control of the Government, citing orders to do so. (See, for example, SMM Daily Report 12 January 2018.) The SMM’s operations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions remain restricted following the fatal incident of 23 April 2017 near Pryshyb; these restrictions continued to limit the Mission’s observations.

Related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:

• The SMM was prevented from accessing secondary roads south of the Zolote disengagement area due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. An “LPR” member positioned on the southern side of the Zolote disengagement area told the SMM that no demining had taken place during the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed.
• The SMM was prevented from accessing secondary roads in the Zolote disengagement area due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC told the SMM that he had no information regarding de-mining in the area during the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.[3]
• The SMM was prevented from accessing parts of the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, with the exception of the main road, due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC told the SMM that he had no information regarding demining activities over the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC. [3]
• The SMM did not travel across the bridge in government-controlled Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk) due to the presence of mines. A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC said there were mines on the road south of the bridge. The SMM informed the JCCC. [3]

[1] For a complete breakdown of the ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table. Two SMM cameras continue to be tested until the end of January 2018.

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

[3] The SMM informed Ukrainian Armed Forces officers of the JCCC. Russian Federation Armed Forces officers of the JCCC have withdrawn from the JCCC as of 18 December 2017.