Daily and spot reports from the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

KYIV, 24 August 2014- The SMM on 23 August (at 17:15hrs) saw a residential area in Donetsk (Kalinski district, around 5km north of the city centre) which was severely damaged by artillery. Residents at the scene told the SMM that the area was shelled at around 16:30hrs.

The SMM monitored impacts of shelling in Donetsk, visited a border crossing point near Kharkiv, and received accounts about illegal dumping of chemical material near Lviv.

Further allegations of human rights abuses emerge in Donbas...

In Kharkiv the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) arrested a group accused of organizing terrorist attacks in the region. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) described the impact of the conflict in the town of Pervomaisk, Luhansk Region. Protests against mobilization continued in Chernivitsi...

In Donetsk the situation remained tense and the SMM heard repeated explosions on the city’s outskirts. Draftees protested against mobilization in Chernivtsi...

Civilians continue to leave Donbas, whilst shelling allegedly continues to take a significant toll on human life. Maidan Square in Kyiv and its environs are all but clear of tents and barricades...

Detention of those considered supporters of the “LPR” in the Luhansk region continues. People continue to flee Luhansk city. The clearance of the Maidan (Independence Square) in Kyiv is almost complete...