OSCE Chief Monitor in Ukraine concerned over the grave security situation in the wider area around the Donetsk Filtration Station

KYIV, 18 May 2018 – The deteriorating security situation in the wider area around the Donetsk Filtration Station poses a threat to the facility, its workers and monitoring officers of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), said the SMM’s Chief Monitor Ertugrul Apakan today.

In a letter he addressed to the signatories of the Minsk agreements on 15 May, he had noted how he was following the developments with great concern. He said that despite the sides having provided explicit security guarantees – essentially promises not to fire in the wider area around the Donetsk Filtration Station – there has been continuous violence. He warned that the use of multiple launch rocket systems, recorded by the SMM on Tuesday evening, marked a sharp escalation.

The Chief Monitor said that without full adherence to the ceasefire, the SMM will need to reconfigure its operations at the Donetsk Filtration Station. 

The Mission has been facilitating access to the Donetsk Filtration Station for Voda Donbassa water company employees for several weeks to keep the station operational. More than 300,000 people on both sides of the contact line depend on the Donetsk Filtration Station for drinking water. 

“These ceasefire violations must stop immediately,” said Apakan.