Daily and spot reports from the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

The situation in Ukraine was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained with no substantial changes compared to the previous days. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the four monitors from the Donetsk team and four monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

The situation in Ukraine was calm, except parts of Donbas where serious tensions continue. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the 4 monitors from the Donetsk team and 4 monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

The situation in Ukraine was calm, except parts of Donbas where serious tensions remain. The SMM spoke to the opponents of unitary Ukraine, held in custody in Kharkiv. It also continues to receive reports from internally displaced people (IDPs) about alleged human rights violations. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the four monitors from the Donetsk team and four monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. On 14 June a Ukrainian military transport aircraft was shot down while approaching Luhansk airport. Forty-nine Ukrainian soldiers lost their lives. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the four monitors from the Donetsk team and four monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. There was no substantive change to the security situation in Donetsk city, which- on the surface at least- remained calm. Repairs to a key Donetsk water-supply pipeline were underway. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the four monitors from the Donetsk team and four monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. Donetsk city remained outwardly calm. The police estimated that several hundred thousand people have now left the city. The mood among those that remained is uncertain and anxious. Mortar fire was reported to have continued in Sloviansk. The SMM has not reestablished communication with the four monitors from the Donetsk team and four monitors from the Luhansk team with whom it lost contact on 26 May and 29 May respectively...

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. Donetsk city remains outwardly calm, with no substantive change to the security situation. In a significant and positive development, the SMM has made contact with both the Donetsk team and the Luhansk team, which have been missing since 26 May and 29 May respectively.

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. Donetsk city remained calm, with no substantive change to the security situation. The Donetsk team has been missing for 25 and the Luhansk team for 22 days. The SMM Head Office, in co-operation with the Office in Ukraine of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), have organized and have begun to implement a joint training programme of monitors from each of the ten teams on the topic of internally displaced persons (IDPs). The purpose of this UNHCR-facilitated training, carried out over the next three weeks, is to strengthen the capacity of the SMM to monitor and report on the situation regarding IDPs...

The situation across the country was calm, except parts of Donbas where tensions remained. In Luhansk a military convoy, of unknown origin, consisting of three tanks and ten BTRs (armoured personnel carriers), was seen. The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) observed customs procedures on the administrative boundary line between Kherson region and Crimea. Four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team have been missing for 26 days and four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team for 23 days.

The situation across the country was calm, except in parts of Donbas, where tensions remained. Sloviansk’s ‘mayor’ warned about the risk of an ecological catastrophe affecting Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team have been missing for 28 days and four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team for 25 days.

The situation across the country was calm except in parts of Donbas, where tensions remained. In Lviv an office of the Russian-owned ‘Sberbank’ was vandalised. Four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team have been missing for 29 days and four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team for 26 days...

The situation across the country was calm. Four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team have been missing for 30 days and four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team for 27 days.

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country. Several railway tracks in Donbas have been damaged by unknown perpetrators. Four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team have been missing for 31 days and four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team for 28 days. The Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus called for their release...

The situation across the country was calm. A Holocaust memorial was vandalised in Kherson region, and some internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Roma community faced difficulty in having their housing needs met in Kharkiv. Four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team have been missing for 28 days. Four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team who had been missing for 32 days were released late on 26 June.

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country. Late on 26 June the four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team were released after 32 days of detention. The four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team are still detained...

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country. The SMM observed peaceful marches marking Ukraine’s Constitution Day throughout the country. On 28 June the remaining four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team were released after a month’s detention...

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country.

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country...

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country...

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country...

The military campaign of the Ukrainian army in the east of the country continued. The situation was stable elsewhere across the country.

The military campaign of the Ukrainian army in the east of the country continued. The situation was stable elsewhere across the country...

The campaign of the Ukrainian forces in the east of the country continued. Other parts of the country remained calm.

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...

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...

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...

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...

The situation in the central-southern part of the Luhansk region and the central part of the Donetsk region remained volatile. There were reports of heavy fighting in and around Luhansk city. Other parts of the country remained calm.

Tension remained in parts of Donbas. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country. In Kharkiv, on the night of 12-13 July, the monument of independence on the Constitution Square was vandalized with red paint by unknown perpetrators, and later during the day cleaned up by city employees. Police officers were working on site in the morning. This is the fourth incident of this kind in Kharkiv.

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. The SMM began facilitating an exchange between the Ukrainian army and armed supporters of the so-called ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’ (LPR) to create two local evacuation corridors for wounded Ukrainian soldiers and ‘LPR’ combatants. The situation was calm elsewhere across the country. There was a false bomb alert in Kyiv in the office of a popular TV channel...

Tensions remained in parts of Donbas. Other areas of Ukraine remained calm. Protesters in front of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Lviv demanded the release of a Ukrainian military pilot, who was abducted by armed groups operating in Donbas and is now reportedly in custody in Russia...

The SMM is currently making its way to the crash site in the Donetsk region, where a civilian aircraft came down, leading to the deaths of 298 people on 17 July. The SMM intends to monitor the situation at the scene and report accordingly...

The SMM obtained very limited access to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines MH17, which came down on 17 July near Hrabove (79 km east of Donetsk). There were dead bodies at the scene, marked, but exposed to the elements. No process of debris collection was observed. Some of the ’Donetsk People’s Republic’s‘ guards were visibly intoxicated and aggressive.

The SMM was initially given only partial access to the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash site. It was given full access on 20 July. Luhansk city was shelled...

Dutch forensics experts – accompanying the SMM – assessed the storage facilities for bodies on board the train in Torez railway station for victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash as “good”. People continue to leave Luhansk city...

The remains of many of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 Flight victims arrived in Kharkiv, from where they will be transported to the Netherlands. The Ukrainian army re-took two towns in the north of the Luhansk region. The SMM discovered bodies in a building vacated by irregular armed forces in one of the towns, namely, Severodonetsk.

The SMM facilitated access of Malaysian experts to the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 and attended a mourning ceremony at Kharkiv’s international airport. Fighting in parts of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions continued...

The remains of some of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash were flown from Kharkiv to the Netherlands. There were a number of protests against military mobilisation in the west of the country.

The human remains of more victims of the Malaysia Airlines crash were flown to the Netherlands. Protests against military mobilisation continued in western Ukraine.

Fighting in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions continued. The MH17 investigative team was unable to access the crash site owing to fighting in the area. The mayor of Kremenchuk city was assassinated. Protests against partial mobilisation in Chernivtsi region persisted. The Right Sector in Ivano-Frankivsk is organising a blockade of local Lukoil petrol stations.

The SMM visited Rubizhne and Shchastia – towns in the Luhansk region, which had been retaken in recent weeks by the Ukrainian army. The situation in both locations has been slowly normalising...

The SMM visited Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region, which was retaken by the Ukrainian army. The situation in Donetsk deteriorated. The SMM visited three areas of Donetsk city after an explosion and assessed the damage...

As of 30 July, Tthe SMM support group dealing with MH17 was unable to access the crash-site for the fourth day in succession owing to fighting and security concerns- the last visit was Friday 25 July. [Note – the SMM successfully reached the crash site today 31 July]. The SMM monitored the evacuation of civilians via the “Green Corridor” in Luhansk region...

No changes at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH 17 near Hrabove were observed by the SMM. Shelling on the outskirts of Donetsk persisted. Entrepreneurs from Kharkiv reported to the SMM on the negative economic consequences of the conflict in Donbas on their business. Concerns about a partial mobilisation, being carried out in Ukraine, are being raised by interlocutors of the SMM...

The SMM accessed the crash site of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, together with an investigative team of Australian and Dutch experts – the first occasion since Friday 25 July on which a full visit had been possible. The SMM also visited the outskirts of Donetsk city to assess artillery damage...

The SMM – accompanied by Dutch and Australian investigators – accessed the wreckage site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Despite instances of shelling in the general area, the investigators retrieved the personal belongings of victims and some human remains. The SMM received information suggesting that shelling in Luhansk city was increasingly impacting on the civilian population...

This update is provided for media and general public. The SMM facilitated access to the Malaysia Airline Flight MH17 wreckage site for Dutch, Malaysian and Australian experts who are investigating the crash. The SMM observed damage caused by apparent shelling around Donetsk airport.

The SMM together with Dutch, Malaysian and Australian teams of experts went to the village of Rozsypne to encourage inhabitants to hand over any remaining personal belongings. In Donetsk the SMM observed areas affected by alleged shelling...

Internally displaced persons from Luhansk continued to inform the SMM about troubling humanitarian conditions in the city. The SMM visited a Ukrainian Border Guard encampment, one kilometre from the Russian border, and saw evidence that it had been shelled. The SMM saw evidence consistent with an artillery attack in two high-rise blocks and a local hospital in Donetsk city. It also observed an unsuccessful attempt to remove the tent town in Kyiv’s Maidan square...

The SMM observed that the Donetsk railway station was open. In Shakhtarsk running water is available for only two hours per day, and gas and electricity has been unavailable since 27 July...