Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 26 April 2019

This report is for the media and the general public.

Summary

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region.
• The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area.
• The Mission continued to observe hardship faced by civilians at checkpoints along the contact line near the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge.
• The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure and damaged houses in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

• Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. The SMM was also restricted in Shevchenko, at a checkpoint of the armed formations in Bezimenne and near Dovzhanske, a non-government-controlled area of Luhansk region close to the border with the Russian Federation.*

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including more explosions (about 150), compared with the previous reporting period (about 60 explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded at south-easterly and southerly directions of Chermalyk (government-controlled, 31km north-east of Mariupol), as well as at southerly directions of Pyshchevyk (government-controlled, 25km north-east of Mariupol).

In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including a similar number of explosions (about 20), compared with the previous reporting period. Most ceasefire violations were recorded in areas close to the disengagement area near Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) (see Disengagement areas).

Disengagement areas[2]

On the evening of 25 April, the SMM camera in Zolote recorded four projectiles in vertical flight at an assessed range of 2-4km south-south-west (assessed as inside the disengagement area). During the day on 26 April, positioned at four locations near the Zolote disengagement area, the SMM heard a burst of heavy-machine-gun fire (unable to assess whether inside or outside the area) and six undetermined explosions (assessed as outside the area, within 5km from its periphery).

Positioned near the disengagement area close to Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), the SMM heard 11 shots from undetermined weapons at an assessed range of 4-5km south-east (assessed as outside the disengagement area). [3]

Positioned inside the disengagement area near Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk), the SMM observed a calm situation.

Withdrawal of weapons

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

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites

Government-controlled areas

26 April

The SMM saw:

• two tanks (T-64) on flatbed trucks in Kramatorsk (83km north of Donetsk) on road H20 heading south and
• a tank (T-64) loaded on a transport vehicle near Dmytrivka (55km south-west of Donetsk) on road H20 heading west.  

Indications of military and military-type presence in the security zone[4]

Government-controlled areas

On 21 April, aerial imagery available to the SMM revealed the presence of a probable armoured combat vehicle (type undetermined) near Vodiane (19km north-east of Mariupol).

26 April

The SMM saw:

• an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (BTR-70) near Novobakhmutivka (28km north of Donetsk),
• an APC (BTR variant) about 3km north-west of Stanytsia Luhanska, and
• an unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle flying in circles at approximately 50m above the ground and descending about 1km south-east of the SMM’s position near Novhorodske (government-controlled, 35km north of Donetsk).  

Demining activities near Myrne and removal of unexploded ordnance near Molodizhne

On 26 April, on road T-0512, about 5km east of Myrne (government-controlled, 40km north-east of Mariupol), two demining team members of an international non-governmental organization told the SMM that the demining team had removed three anti-tank mines next to the road. About 300m west, the SMM saw two additional members of the same organization conducting demining activities in a field south of the road (for previous observations see SMM Daily Report of 26 April 2019). 

The SMM noted that the two pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO), previously observed embedded in the tarmac of a road leading from Molodizhne (non-government-controlled, 63km west of Luhansk) to the checkpoint of the armed formations on the southern edge of the Zolote disengagement area, had been removed (see SMM Daily Report of 24 April 2019).

Hardship for civilians at checkpoints near the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge

At 12:20, at the entry-exit checkpoint (EECP) north of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge (15km north-east of Luhansk), the SMM saw about 500 people queuing to exit and about 40 people queuing to enter government-controlled areas. About two hours later, the SMM saw about 600 people queuing to exit and about 20 people queuing to enter government-controlled areas. In the parking lot near the checkpoint, a woman and a man (aged 50-60) told the SMM that it took them a total of two hours to travel from non-government- to government-controlled areas. Medical staff present at the EECP told the SMM that on 25 April a total of 120 people received treatment after they had felt unwell (30 of them lost consciousness) due to the high temperatures.

SMM facilitation of repairs to civilian infrastructure and damaged houses

The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk), to damaged houses in Marinka (government-controlled, 23km south-west of Donetsk) and Krasnohorivka (government-controlled, 21km west of Donetsk) and to a water pipeline between Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk) and Zolote-3/Stakhanovets (government-controlled, 61km west of Luhansk). The SMM monitored the security situation in the area of the pumping station near Vasylivka (non-government-controlled, 20km north of Donetsk) and facilitated the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station (15km north of Donetsk).

Border areas outside government control

Positioned at a border crossing point near Marynivka (78km east of Donetsk) for about one hour, the SMM saw 14 cars (five with Ukrainian and seven with Russian licence plates, as well as two with “DPR” plates), one covered cargo truck with “DPR” plates and eight pedestrians (three women and four men aged 30-50 and a child) entering Ukraine. The SMM also saw 17 cars (one with Ukrainian and 11 with Russian Federation licence plates, as well as five with “DPR” plates), two buses (both with about 40 passengers on board and “DPR” plates) and three covered cargo trucks with Ukrainian licence plates exiting Ukraine.  

At a border crossing point near Dovzhanske (84km south-east of Luhansk), the SMM saw three cars (two with Russian Federation and one with “LPR” plates) and two covered cargo trucks with Ukrainian licence plates entering Ukraine. It also saw five cars (three with Ukrainian and one with Georgian licence plates, as well as one with “LPR” plates) exiting Ukraine. After about 15 minutes, a member of the armed formations asked the SMM to leave the area.*

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, 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. 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 (for example, see below). 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.

Denials of access:

• At a checkpoint about 2.5km west of Bezimenne (non-government-controlled, 30km east of Mariupol), four members of the armed formations denied the SMM passage, citing security concerns for SMM members.
• In Shevchenko (non-government-controlled, 69km south of Donetsk) two members of the armed formations denied the SMM passage westward to Mykolaivka (non-government-controlled) after the SMM refused to show the patrol plan.  
• At a border crossing point near Dovzhanske, a member of the armed formations asked the SMM to leave the area.

Regular restrictions related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:

• The sides continued to deny the SMM full access to the three disengagement areas, as well as the ability to travel certain roads previously identified as important for effective monitoring by the Mission and for civilians’ movement, through failure to conduct comprehensive clearance of mines and UXO.
• At a checkpoint in Shchastia (government-controlled, 20km north of Luhansk), a representative of the Ukrainian Armed Forces to the JCCC told the SMM by phone that no demining activities had taken place during the previous 24 hours and that the road south of the bridge was still mined. The SMM did not consider safe to proceed.

Conditional:

• At a checkpoint on the northern edge of Novoazovsk (non-government-controlled, 40km east of Mariupol), members of the armed formations allowed the SMM to proceed only accompanied by a member of the armed formation.

[1] For a complete breakdown of ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table. During the reporting period, the SMM camera at Oktiabr mine (non-government-controlled, 9km north-west of Donetsk city centre) was partially operational.

[2]Disengagement is foreseen in the Framework Decision of the Trilateral Contact Group relating to disengagement of forces and hardware of 21 September 2016.

[3] Due to the presence of mines, including on a road between Bohdanivka and Petrivske, the SMM cannot access its camera in Petrivske, and thus the SMM has not been able to access observations from the camera since 22 June 2018.

[4] The hardware mentioned in this section is not proscribed by the provisions of the Minsk agreements on the withdrawal of weapons.