Latest from the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) in Ukraine based on information received until 8 July 2014, 18:00 (Kyiv time)

This update is provided for the media and the public.

The Ukrainian security operation in the east of the country continued. The situation in the central-southern part of the Luhansk region and the central part of the Donetsk region remained volatile. Other parts of the country remained calm.

In Kharkiv, the situation remained calm.

The Ukrainian security operation in the east continued. The situation in the central-southern part of the Luhansk region and the central part of the Donetsk region remained volatile.

On 8 July, the SMM in Luhansk was asked to visit a Ukrainian border guard camp adjacent to the village of Yuganivka, 45 km north-east of Luhansk city, and just 200 m from the border with the Russian Federation. The SMM talked to the border guards and local villagers, and was shown the impacts of mortar shells and unexploded rounds.

The SMM spoke to two local villagers, who confirmed that there had been shelling the previous night, but that the origin of the shelling was unknown. In the camp the SMM monitoring teams were shown a jeep and a bus that had been hit by shrapnel. No other damage was visible within the camp.

The SMM in Luhansk concluded that while there was sufficient evidence to suggest a mortar attack had taken place, there was insufficient evidence to draw conclusions as to the origin of the fire, or the identity of the perpetrators.

In Donetsk, the SMM met with the head of the police department, who said that some level of policing was still being provided to the public in Donetsk city. He said the public expected, and continued to rely on, the police for protection.

Following media reports of explosions in a mine on 8 July in the Petrovskiy district in Donetsk, the SMM went to the site. They observed no fire or smoke. There were about 50 armed personnel from the so-called ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ (DPR) along the street leading to the mine, and at the entrance to it. Most of the shops and services were closed in the area. On leaving the area, the SMM observed four vehicles with armed ‘DPR’ personnel moving in the direction of the mine.

The situation in Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson, Odessa, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv was calm.

The situation in Kyiv was calm.

On 8 July, 50 relatives of the ‘Nebesna Sotnia’ (Heavenly Hundred) – people killed during the protests at Maidan – gathered in front of the presidential building, demanding that their relatives be declared national heroes by the president. The SMM saw approximately 20 police officers secure the peaceful rally.