Spot Report by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM): Shelling at and around Donetsk airport

At 14:55hrs on 10 October at the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) observation post at the “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”)-controlled Donetsk railway station (8km north-west of Donetsk city centre), the SMM heard an explosion to the north, at least 3km away.

At 16:10hrs, a Russian Federation representative to the JCCC and a “DPR” member told the SMM that there had been a shelling incident involving casualties in “DPR”-controlled Vesele (9km north-west of Donetsk city centre).

At 16:30hrs, the SMM – on the way to Vesele – observed all floors in a nine-storey building on fire on Vzletnaia Street. (8.2km north-north-west of Donetsk city centre). The SMM noted an impact from an undetermined projectile on the north-north-west facing wall of the first floor of the building. The SMM noted no casualties.

Continuing on towards Vesele, the SMM at 17:40hrs – 300m south of the destroyed “DPR”-controlled new terminal airport building (10km north-west of Donetsk city centre) – observed a projectile impacting on the new terminal building.

At 17:50hrs, the SMM observed what it assessed as a fresh mortar impact 3m west of Stratonavtov Street in Vesele. The SMM observed blood and human remains around the impact area and a small bone fragment embedded in a nearby tree. Armed “DPR” members present told the SMM that one person had been killed and two injured – all members of the “DPR” – in the incident, which they said had occurred between 14:10 and 14:20hrs. Following crater analysis, the SMM assessed that an infantry-type mortar round, possibly of a caliber of 60mm, had caused the crater, which had a 10cm depth and 35cm diameter. Due to the high incoming angle of the projectile, the SMM could not ascertain the direction of fire.

The SMM intends to follow up on the incident, including through visits to hospitals and the morgue.