Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30hrs, 27 April 2016

This report is for media and the general public.

Four civilians were killed in “DPR”-controlled Olenivka, south-west of Donetsk city, when the area came under shelling. The SMM recorded significant numbers of ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including multiple launch rocket system fire. The SMM monitored a demonstration against the mayor in Odessa. The SMM monitored a demonstration outside a closed-door court hearing in Kharkiv involving members of the Aidar battalion.

The SMM responded to reports of early-morning shelling resulting in civilian casualties in the area of “DPR”-controlled Olenivka (23km south-west of Donetsk). At the scene, 650m north of a “DPR” checkpoint, the SMM observed the bodies of three men and one woman. The SMM also analysed five craters. From two craters the SMM assessed that the impacts were caused by fire from the west-south-west, and that the type of weapon used was likely 122mm artillery. From three other craters the SMM assessed that the impacts were caused likely by fire from the west-south-west and that the calibre of weapon used was not less than 120mm (see SMM Spot Report 28 April 2016).

The SMM continued to observe a significant number of ceasefire violations, including overnight, in Donetsk region.[1] Positioned in government-controlled Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk), on the evening of 26 April the SMM recorded 268 explosions (including 210 assessed as incoming, 14 outgoing) as well as a range of small arms fire 2-5km north-east, south-west and south-south-east. Positioned in “DPR”-controlled Horlivka (39km north-east of Donetsk), on the night of 26-27 April the SMM heard 60 explosions, including five blasts of tank fire and 15 explosions of automatic grenade launcher fire 4-6km south and south-west. Positioned in “DPR”-controlled Donetsk city centre, on the night of 26-27 April, the SMM heard two bursts of heavy machine-gun and small-arms fire 5-7km north of its position, as well as 23 undetermined explosions 7-10km north-west. Finally, in the early hours of 27 April, between 01:23 and 01:47, the SMM’s camera in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) recorded at least 100 undetermined explosions 1-2km north-east.

In Luhansk region the SMM continued to record ceasefire violations in the evening hours while positioned in government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk). There, on 26 April, the SMM heard between 20:07 and 21:45 158 explosions assessed as outgoing mortar rounds, 30mm cannon and automatic grenade launcher (AGS-17) explosions, along with continuous small-arms fire, 2-4km south-west. Between 21:48 and 23:00, the SMM heard approximately 223 explosions, including one impact caused by mortar 2km to the south-west, 197 mortar explosions 2-4km south-west and 25 incoming 30mm cannon explosions, along with multiple bursts of small-arms fire. In addition, the SMM  heard approximately ten outgoing explosions assessed as multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) fired from 7-10km south-east, in “LPR”-controlled areas. From 23:09 to 23:44, the SMM heard approximately 189 bursts of 30mm cannon fire 4-7km south, and 36 explosions caused by impacts of mortar rounds along with outgoing tracer fire 7-10km south-east as well as approximately 300 undetermined bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire.

In relation to the implementation of the Package of Measures, on 26 April, in violation of respective withdrawal lines, the SMM’s long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) observed six tanks near government-controlled Pravdivka (36km north of Donetsk) and one surface-to-air missile system (9K35 Strela-10, 120mm) near a government-controlled part of Zolote (60km north-west of Luhansk).

The SMM observed the presence of armoured combat vehicles and an anti-aircraft weapon in the security zone. On 26 April the SMM UAV observed: six armoured combat vehicles (ACVs) near a government-controlled part of Zolote; two ACVs near government-controlled Novotoshkivske (53km north-west of Luhansk); two ACVs and an anti-aircraft gun (30mm) near government-controlled Orikhove (57km north-west of Luhansk); two ACVs near government-controlled Popasna (70km west of Luhansk).

The SMM monitored the first All-Ukrainian Conference of Prosecutors in Kyiv when, at 12:00, the Acting General Prosecutor announced to the 446 delegates in attendance that a bomb threat had been received. While the building, part of the General Prosecution Office complex in central Kyiv, was not evacuated, the SMM noted that security forces were conducting a search both inside and outside the conference building for what turned out to be a false threat. Meanwhile in Lviv, the SMM monitored a press conference where the regional branches of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) announced that security measures would be heightened during the upcoming Orthodox Easter and May holidays, from 28 April through 10 May, in what they said was an effort to protect the public and thwart any possible terrorist attack. Likewise, authorities in Chernivtsi also announced stepped-up security over the long Easter weekend.

Also in Odessa, the SMM monitored an assembly where participants demanded the resignation of the Mayor. At 10:00, some 150 people (20-60 years-old, one-third women) had gathered outside the city hall. Six of the protesters wore camouflage gear (three with Right Sector insignia, including two women) and carried three Svoboda flags. The SMM observed six National Guard members, some 30 police officers outside the building and in groups around nearby Dumskaia Square, and two buses parked nearby carrying some 40 riot police each. The demonstration ended peacefully.

In Kharkiv, the SMM observed that a court hearing for nine members of the Aidar battalion accused of crimes alleged to have taken place in Luhansk region and including murder, abduction and theft was taking place behind closed doors. Only those immediately involved in the proceedings were allowed in the courthouse, which was being guarded by five masked security guards with a dog. Also present outside the building was a small group of 20 demonstrators (all men between 40 and 60 years old) who described themselves as members of groups including Right Sector and Azov Civil Corps. They told the SMM they were protesting the court’s decision to bar the public from attending the trial, saying it lacked transparency. In the end, the hearing was postponed to the following day because one of the defence lawyers was unavailable, and the protesters dispersed peacefully.

The SMM continued to monitor the situation in Kherson, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Dnepropetrovsk.

*Restrictions to SMM’s freedom of movement or other impediments to the fulfilment of its mandate

The SMM’s monitoring is restrained by security hazards and threats, including risks posed by mines and unexploded ordnance, and by restrictions of its freedom of movement 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.

Denial of access: 

Armed “DPR” members denied the SMM passage through a “DPR” “customs checkpoint” on highway H15 (at the junction of H20, 15km south-west of Donetsk) after the SMM declined to present patrol members’ national passports. The patrol turned back and took an alternate route. The SMM informed the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination.

[1] Please see the annexed table for a complete breakdown of the ceasefire violations, as well as map of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions marked with locations featured in this report.