Daily and spot reports from the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

The overall security situation remains volatile in the areas of Donetsk and Luhansk...

The SMM continued to observe the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in light of the Minsk Protocol on the non-use of weapons. The SMM received numerous accounts indicating breaches of these arrangements in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions...

The SMM observed a simultaneous release of 68 people in Donetsk; and monitored the non-use of weapons regime established under the Minsk Protocol.

The SMM continued to observe the situation in regard to the Minsk agreement with a focus on the non-use of weapons.

The SMM continued to observe the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in light of the Minsk agreement on non-use of weapons...

The SMM continued to observe the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in light of the Minsk agreement on non-use of weapons. IDPs continue to leave the east of the country.

In Kharkiv, the SMM visited the Ukrainian Army military recruitment centre located in a residential area at Sokolova Street 7 in Kharkiv city, which was attacked at 04:30hrs on 8 September. Five smashed windows were observed and the device remnants were indicative of home-made pipe bombs...

The SMM continued monitoring, with a focus- in light of arrangements made in Minsk- on events in Donbas...

This report is for media and the general public...

The security situation in Donetsk remained volatile. Intense shelling in Donetsk city continued. In Mariupol local inhabitants fear possible attacks by irregular armed groups. Reportedly, the “Aidar” battalion occupied the main power plant in Shchastya...

In Kharkiv the monument to Cossack Ataman Ivan Sirko, which had been inaugurated on 23 August 2014, was vandalised during the night of 2 September. Footage of the monument painted green was circulated in the local media...

In Donetsk the SMM heard renewed shelling in the city and mortar fire coming from within the airport area. In Mariupol local authorities are stepping up efforts to protect the city.

Intensity of shelling appeared to decrease in Donetsk city, whilst mortar fire was observed coming from within the airport area. The SMM was informed by Ukrainian officials that the airport in Luhansk was no longer under control of the Ukrainian forces...

This report is for media and the general public. Donetsk city was affected by sporadic shelling in the early hours of 31 August. “DPR” announced its intention to release 15 Ukrainian soldiers held in Ilovaysk. The situation in Mariupol was calm; the SMM observed checkpoints around the city.

This report is for media and the general public. The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) monitored a demonstration in Kharkiv attended by approximately 400 supporters of Ukraine’s unity in front of the Consulate of the Russian Federation on 28 August.

The SMM witnessed the impact of the conflict on the civilian population in the town of Yasynuvata, and met – in Chernivtsi – with Ukrainian activists delivering supplies to the area of fighting. The SMM deployed an advance team to Mariupol (113 km south of Donetsk) last night at 22:30hrs. They will be reinforced today. Reporting will also be initiated today...

The intensity of the fighting increased in areas closer to Donetsk city centre, resulting in damage to the infrastructure, and fatalities among the civilian population. In Lviv a group of protesters tried to force its way into the building of the regional traffic police...

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...

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

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...

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...

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...

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 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...

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...

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...

The SMM visited Kramatorsk...

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

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...

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...

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 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...

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 – 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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 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 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.

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 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...

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.