Daily and spot reports from the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

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...

Kyiv, 7 August 2014- The SMM observed damage to two high-rise buildings and a hospital, indicating that they had recently been shelled. One man was killed and one injured in the vicinity of the hospital.

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...

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...

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...

Police in the Luhansk region accuse a volunteer military battalion of illegal detentions...

The SMM visited Kramatorsk...

The SMM monitored a simultaneous release of prisoners in the Donetsk region. The Kharkiv region “has exhausted” its capacity to absorb more internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to the regional social protection department. Protestors in Kyiv demand lustration of government...

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

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...

Fighting in the north-eastern part of the Donetsk region and the south-eastern part of the Luhansk region continued. The SMM visited Mariupol – an industrial port city in the south of the Donetsk region – and found the situation to be calm. The SMM was informed that some internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions are moving to Crimea...

Fighting in the north-eastern part of the Donetsk region and south-eastern areas of the Luhansk region continued. The SMM monitored the situation of the civilian population in Donetsk...

Fighting in and around Donetsk continues, as living conditions deteriorate for the civilian population. The SMM met internally displaced persons (IDPs) leaving Luhansk. In Chernivtsi soldiers protest against mobilization...

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

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.

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.

On 24 August the SMM entered Luhansk city which, due to heavy fighting, it had last visited on 21 July...

Celebrations for Independence Day were held across the country on 24 August. In Luhansk and Donetsk fighting continues to impact on the civilian population. In Donetsk the SMM observed a group of captive men being paraded on the main square...

In Donetsk the SMM continues to observe the impact of the conflict on the civilian population and infrastructure...

The SMM visited areas in the Luhansk region affected by the armed conflict. In Donetsk the SMM gathered information about incidents against priests from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate...