Spot Report by OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM): Gunfire in close vicinity of SMM patrol members at Zolote disengagement area

This report is for the media and the general public.

On 4 July, an SMM patrol consisting of four members and two armoured vehicles was positioned at the checkpoint of the armed formations on the southern edge of the Zolote disengagement area ( 60km west of Luhansk) preparing to conduct a mini-unmanned aerial vehicle flight. At 11:55, the SMM patrol members, two of whom were outside and two inside the vehicles, with doors open, heard 30-40 bursts of heavy-machine gun and 20-30 shots of small-arms fire, all assessed as originating 1-2km north-north-west of their position. The SMM members heard bullets flying 10-15m above their heads and also heard and saw bullets impacting electricity poles 10-15m south-west of their position.

A few seconds later, the SMM patrol members heard 20-30 bursts of outgoing machine-gun and 20-30 shots of small-arms fire, at an assessed distance of 5m north-north-west, within the area of the checkpoint. One SMM patrol member, who was at the time talking to a member of the armed formations at the checkpoint, immediately took cover behind a checkpoint fortification, while the driver of one of the SMM vehicles immediately reversed to pick up the other SMM patrol member. At 11:57, all SMM patrol members had entered the vehicles and started driving away, when they heard again bursts and shots of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, assessed as an exchange of fire. The SMM returned safely to its base in Kadiivka (formerly Stakhanov, non-government-controlled, 50km west of Luhansk).