Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 29 March 2017

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, but more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The Mission followed up on reports of civilian casualties and damage from shelling in Donetsk city. The Mission monitored the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske, but its access there and elsewhere remained restricted.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines. The blockade of railway routes continued. The Mission monitored the situation in Balakliia in Kharkiv region and followed up on reports of a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Lutsk in Volyn region.

In Donetsk region the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, [1] including about 520 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 550 explosions).

While in “DPR”-controlled Donetsk city centre on the evening and night of 28-29 March, the SMM heard 152 undetermined explosions 4-6km north-west and 12 undetermined explosions 6-8km north-north-west. The following day, positioned at the central railway station (6km north-west of Donetsk city centre), the SMM heard 35 undetermined explosions 3-6km at directions ranging from north-west to north. Positioned in Kyivskyi district (5km north-west of the city centre) the SMM heard 22 undetermined explosions, mostly 3-5km north-north-east.

On the evening and night of 28-29 March, the SMM camera in government-controlled Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk) recorded six undetermined explosions followed by four tracer rounds north to south, followed by a total of nine undetermined explosions and an exchange of 53 projectiles in flight (37 from south to north and 16 from west to east) and 18 tracer rounds in flight from west to east, all 2-4km east-south-east and south-east. In the late afternoon of 29 March, the camera recorded 12 undetermined explosions 4-5km east-south-east.

On the night of 28-29 March, the SMM camera at the “DPR”-controlled Oktiabr mine (9km north-west of Donetsk city centre) recorded, in sequence, 14 projectiles in flight from south to north and one impact 2-4km north-north-east, two undetermined explosions, ten tracer rounds in flight west to east 6-8km north-east, 18 undetermined explosions 2-4km west-south-west, two tracer rounds in flight west to east, one undetermined explosion, 21 tracer rounds in flight east to west and two projectiles in flight from east to west 6-8km north-east.

Positioned in “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata (16km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 79 undetermined explosions and small-arms fire 2-5km at directions ranging from west to north-north-west. Positioned in Avdiivka, the SMM heard six undetermined explosions 2-5km south-east.

On the evening of 28 March, while in “DPR”-controlled Horlivka (39km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 21 undetermined explosions at distances ranging between 3km and 8km west and north-west. On the evening of 28 March, while in government-controlled Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard three explosions assessed as outgoing multiple-launch rocket system fire 7-10km south-west and 46 undetermined explosions 6-10km east-north-east.

On the evening and night of 28-29 March the SMM camera in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) recorded an exchange of tracer rounds consisting of a total of 50 rounds in flight south-west to north-east, 50 rounds east to west and 36 rounds west to east, all beginning with a tracer round in flight south-west to north-east at an undetermined distance north.

On 28 March, positioned at the northern edge of “DPR”-controlled Sakhanka (24km north-east of Mariupol), the SMM heard seven outgoing explosions 1-2km west-south-west, 100 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire mostly1-2km west and heard and saw five impacts 2.5km west. Positioned in “DPR”-controlled Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, 23km north-east of Mariupol), the SMM heard eight undetermined explosions and ten outgoing explosions at unknown distances south-south-east and subsequent impacts and bursts of small-arms fire south-south-west. The SMM entered the village for the first time since the 10 March serious security incident (see SMM Spot Report 10 March 2017).

Positioned at two locations north of government-controlled Lebedynske (16km north-east of Mariupol) the SMM heard a total of 23 undetermined explosions at unknown distances north and south-south-east.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more explosions – about 260 compared with the previous reporting period (110). On the night of 28-29 March, while in “LPR”-controlled Kadiivka (formerly Stakhanov, 50km west of Luhansk), in an hour the SMM heard 63 undetermined explosions assessed as artillery rounds 5-20km west-north-west and five undetermined explosions 3-7km north-west of its position. The following day in one hour before noon, the SMM heard 100 explosions (50 outgoing and 50 subsequent impacts) assessed as artillery rounds about 10km south-west. 

Positioned in “LPR”-controlled Molodizhne (63km north-west of Luhansk) the SMM heard five explosions assessed as impacts of unknown weapons 3km south-south-west and three outgoing explosions of unknown weapons 3km south-south-east. In “LPR”-controlled Krasnyi Lyman (30km north-west of Luhansk) the SMM heard 15 explosions (seven undetermined, five assessed as impacts, and three as outgoing), all assessed as artillery rounds of unknown calibre 10km west.

The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties and damage to houses from shelling. In “DPR”-controlled Kyivskyi district of Donetsk city, accompanied by Russian officers of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC), the SMM assessed damage from shelling at three locations. At 56 Sacco and Vanzetti Street, the SMM saw a destroyed house and three fresh impact sites near it. Two impacts were on a street, respectively six and 12m from the north-facing wall of the house. The third was in the house’s south-west-facing wall and had destroyed the kitchen. The SMM assessed that the damage had been caused by artillery rounds. At the Kalinina hospital morgue, medical personnel told the SMM that the resident of the apartment (an elderly woman) had died of multiple shrapnel wounds and her body had been brought to the morgue on the morning of 29 March. At the morgue the SMM saw the deceased and shrapnel that medical staff said had been extracted during the autopsy.

At 52 Sacco and Vanzetti Street, the SMM saw a fresh crater in the backyard of a house and a damaged a five-centimetre-thick concrete wall separating a house from two neighbouring houses to its south. The SMM assessed that the damage had been caused by an artillery round. At 44 Chkalova Street the SMM saw extensive fire damage to an uninhabited top-floor apartment of a four-storey building, a heavily damaged south-west facing balcony and damage to the roof of the balcony. The SMM saw shrapnel embedded in the roof of the building and assessed that the damage had been caused by an artillery round fired from directions ranging between west and south. The SMM saw broken windows and shrapnel damage to wooden balconies on other apartments in the apartment block as well as the north-facing façade of an apartment block on the neighbouring 6 Chapayeva Street. Residents of the damaged building told the SMM that the impact had occurred shortly before midnight on 28 March.

In a government-controlled part of Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM accompanied by Ukrainian officers of the JCCC saw two destroyed buildings near 338 Marshala Rybalka Street. The SMM saw dried blood under the rubble. A police officer in Bakhmut (formerly Artemivsk, 67km north of Donetsk) told the SMM that the elderly couple who inhabited the building had been killed in the shelling on 25 March. Residents of Zaitseve told the SMM the funeral had taken place on 28 March. The SMM saw part of the south-east-facing façade of the main house had been blown out and the roof had collapsed. The roof of the second building (a shed in the yard), located five metres south of the house, had collapsed. The SMM assessed that the damage to both buildings had been caused by two 82mm mortar rounds fired from a southerly direction. The Mission saw a Ukrainian Armed Forces position some 150m south of the destroyed buildings. Some 150m north, next to the street, the SMM saw one infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-2) dug-in. The SMM saw at least two more fresh craters near the destroyed buildings.

The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement process and to pursue full access to the disengagement areas of Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), Zolote (60km west of Luhansk) and Petrivske (41km south of Donetsk), as foreseen in the Framework Decision of the Trilateral Contact Group relating to disengagement of forces and hardware of 21 September. The SMM’s access remained restricted but the Mission was able to partially monitor them.*

On the evening and night 28 March the SMM camera in government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk) recorded one flare in flight west to east about 0.9km south, one flare in flight south to north 1km south, one flare in flight west to east 0.8km south and an undetermined flash 0.8km south, all inside the disengagement area.

In “LPR”-controlled areas of the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area (16km north-east of Luhansk), inside the disengagement area, the SMM continued to observe works to reinforce an “LPR” position just south of the bridge. (See SMM Daily Report 29 March 2017.)

The SMM camera in government-controlled Zolote (60km west of Luhansk) recorded on 28 March an undetermined explosion 4.5km south, assessed as outside the disengagement area.

The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons, in implementation of the Package of Measures, its Addendum, and the Memorandum. [2]

In violation of the respective withdrawal lines, in government-controlled areas the SMM saw 17 self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) on trailers at the railway station in Kostiantynivka (60km north of Donetsk) as well as seven self-propelled howitzers (2S1, 122mm), six of which were on trailers moving west to east on road T0504 and one stationary self-propelled howitzer (2S3 Akatsiya, 152mm) near Bakhmut (and one mortar (82mm) on a military truck moving east near Zolote-4/Rodina (60km west of Luhansk), outside the disengagement area.

The SMM observed weapons that could not be verified as withdrawn, as their storage does not comply with the criteria set out in the 16 October 2015 notification. In government-controlled areas, the SMM saw 12 towed howitzers (2A65 Msta‑B, 152mm) and noted 13 towed howitzers (2A65) missing. The SMM noted that six such areas were still abandoned and 18 self-propelled howitzers (2S1), 16 anti-tank guns (MT-12 Rapira, 100mm) and four mortars (2B9 Vasilek, 82mm) were still missing.

Beyond the respective withdrawal lines, but outside designated storage sites, the SMM saw a stationary tank (T-64) on a flatbed truck south of Chunyshyne (government-controlled, 52km north-west of Donetsk) and seven stationary tanks (T-64) at a known training area near “LPR”-controlled Myrne (28km south-west of Luhansk).

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles and anti-aircraft guns in the security zone [3]. In government-controlled areas the SMM saw: one armoured personnel carrier (BTR-70) south of Maksymilianivka (30km west of Donetsk), one anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23) mounted on a military truck, travelling north on H-21 north of Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk), one APC (BTR-4k) at a checkpoint near Pshenychne (20km north-east of Luhansk), one anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23) on the ground and two IFVs (BMP-1) and one APC (BRDM-1K) near Zolote.

The SMM monitored the continuation of the blockade along railway routes that cross the contact line and noted no changes and a calm situation in government-controlled Buhas (44km south-west of Donetsk), Hirske (63km west of Luhansk) and Bakhmut.

On 28 and 29 March, in Kharkiv region the SMM continued to follow up on reports of a fire at an ammunition storage depot located in Balakliia (74km south-east of Kharkiv). On 28 March, in a cleared area, the SMM saw two rockets of undetermined type stuck in the ground and saw that almost all windows of a primary school at 10 Haharina Street had been broken and were sealed with polyethylene film. On 29 March near the town the SMM saw around 50 workers of the State Emergency Service marking unexploded ordnance in a field. In addition to the 30 damaged buildings already observed (see SMM Daily Report 28 March 2017), the SMM saw one industrial-type building with a partially collapsed roof and walls. Residents of Balakliia and of the surrounding settlements told the SMM that most services had been restored, with only some areas still lacking gas-supply.

In Lutsk, Volyn region (137 km north-east of Lviv), the SMM observed damage from an explosion to the fourth floor wall and the roof of the Consulate of the Republic of Poland at 22b Dubnivska street. The acting Consul of the Republic of Poland in Lutsk told the SMM that around 00:10 on 29 March a rocket-propelled grenade had hit 15-20cm from the window. He added that no one had been injured. The Lutsk police also told the SMM that the same type of weapon had been used.

The SMM continued monitoring in Kherson, Odessa, Ivano-Frankivsk, Dnipro, Chernivtsi and Kyiv.

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

The SMM’s monitoring and freedom of movement are restricted by security hazards and threats, including risks posed by mines, unexploded ordnance (UXO), 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. They have also agreed that the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) should contribute to such response and co-ordinate mine clearance.

Denial of access:

• At the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, a Ukrainian officer of the JCCC told the SMM that its safety still could not be guaranteed in the areas surrounding the main road due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. The SMM informed the JCCC.
• At an “LPR” checkpoint on the edge of the Zolote disengagement area, armed men told the SMM that its safety still could not be guaranteed in the fields and side roads due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. The SMM informed the JCCC.
• The SMM still could not travel south of the bridge in government-controlled Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk), as Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel said there were mines on the road south of the bridge. The SMM informed the JCCC.
• The presence of anti-tank obstacles and mine hazard signs on the road prevented the SMM from traveling between government-controlled Katerynivka (64km west of Luhansk) and government-controlled Popasna (69km west of Luhansk). Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel present told the SMM that the road was mined and permission from higher-level authorities was needed.
• In “DPR”-controlled Novohryhorivka (61km north-east of Donetsk) an armed man gestured towards the SMM to leave the village. The SMM informed the JCCC.
• Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel denied the SMM access to a weapons holding area, citing orders not to allow the SMM inside. The Mission informed the JCCC.
• Four armed men denied the SMM access to an area with damaged houses in the “DPR”-controlled village of Naberezhne (33km north-east of Mariupol). The SMM informed the JCCC.
• The SMM again saw a wooden utility pole blocking the road 1.3km south-west of “LPR”-controlled Hannivka (58km west of Luhansk). On 10 March the SMM had seen four tanks in this area in violation of withdrawal lines (see SMM Daily Report 11 March 2017). The SMM first saw the wooden pole blocking the road on 11 March (see SMM Daily Report 12 March 2017).

Other impediments:

• In “LPR”-controlled Sukhodilsk (38km south-east of Luhansk), a person at the local “administration” offices refused to talk to the SMM without “special permission” from “LPR” members.

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

[2] Despite the joint statement of 1 February by the Trilateral Contact Group and the consent reached on 15 February, the sides have not yet provided the baseline information requested by the SMM related to weapons to be withdrawn and locations of units and formations.

[3] This hardware is not proscribed by the provisions of the Minsk agreements on the withdrawal of weapons.