Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 10 July 2017

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and a significant increase in ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Zaitseve and observed a fresh impact site in residential areas of Zolote-5. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas and observed a calm situation. The Mission’s access remained restricted there and elsewhere, including to Nova Marivka.* It continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to the Mykhailivka-Almazna high-voltage power lines near Pervomaisk. The SMM visited one border area not under government control in Donetsk region. In Kyiv the Mission monitored a march by 200-250 participants.

In Donetsk region the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations[1], including about 140 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours (about 360 explosions).

On the evening and night of 9-10 July, while in “DPR”-controlled Donetsk city centre, the SMM heard 35 undetermined explosions 5-6km north.

On the evening and night of 9-10 July the SMM camera in government-controlled Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, three tracer rounds in flight from west to east, one tracer round in flight from east to west, followed by aggregated totals of one undetermined explosion, one illumination flare in vertical flight and 15 tracer rounds in flight (14 from west to east and one from east to west), all 3-5km east-south-east. The following day, the same camera recorded nine explosions assessed as impacts of rounds of undetermined weapons 4-5km east-south-east. Positioned in Avdiivka for about five hours, the SMM heard six undetermined explosions 3-5km east-south-east.

On 10 July, positioned in “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata (16km north-east of Donetsk) for about five hours, the SMM heard 32 explosions (30 undetermined, two assessed as impacts of rounds of undetermined weapons) and about 40 bursts and shots of small-arms fire, all 1-6km at directions ranging from south-south-west to north-west.

On the night of 9-10 July, while in “DPR”-controlled Horlivka (39km north-east of Donetsk), within one hour the SMM heard 20 explosions (one undetermined, ten assessed as outgoing rounds of recoilless gun (SPG-9, 73mm) or infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-1) cannon (73mm) fire and nine as impacts of mortar (82mm) rounds) and seven bursts of anti-aircraft cannon (type unknown) and heavy-machine-gun fire, all 3-5km west.

On the evening and night of 9-10 July, while in government-controlled Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard six undetermined explosions, about ten bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire and 20 shots of small-arms fire, all 5-7km south-east. The SMM also heard about 30 undetermined explosions, 40 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire and 20 shots of small-arms fire, all 3-5km south-west.

On the night of 9-10 July the SMM camera in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) recorded, in sequence, three tracer rounds in flight from east to west, one tracer round in flight from west to east, followed by aggregated totals of 170 tracer rounds in flight (127 from east to west and 43 from west to east) and three rocket-assisted projectiles in flight from north-east to south-west, all at unknown distances north.

In Luhansk region the SMM recorded a significant increase in ceasefire violations, including about 320 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours (no explosions).

On the night of 9-10 July, while in government-controlled Popasna (69km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard about 110 explosions assessed as impacts of mostly mortar and artillery rounds (calibre unknown) 4-10km east and north-east, about 70 explosions assessed as outgoing rounds of mortar (82mm) and undetermined weapons 3-8km north-east, about ten undetermined explosions 5-7km south and over 180 bursts and shots of heavy-machine-gun, IFV (BMP-2) cannon (30mm) and small-arms fire 3-8km east and north-east. The SMM also heard what it assessed as three outgoing salvos (three rockets each) of multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) (BM-21 Grad, 122mm) fire 3-5km north-east.

On the night of 9-10 July, while in “LPR”-controlled Kadiivka (formerly Stakhanov, 50km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard about 120 undetermined explosions and 120 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire about 10km west-north-west and north-north-west.

On 10 July, positioned in the western outskirts of “LPR”-controlled Pervomaisk (58km west of Luhansk), in about 20 minutes the SMM heard about 90 shots of small-arms fire 1-1.5km south, assessed as live-fire exercise inside the security zone.

The SMM continued to follow up on reports of civilian casualties and observed a fresh impact site in residential areas. The SMM visited a hospital in government-controlled Bakhmut (formerly Artemivsk, 67km north of Donetsk) following up on media reports and allegations from Ukrainian officers of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) that a booby trap had exploded near two civilians (a man and a woman) on 7 July when they had on foot gone off a secondary road between government-controlled Maiorsk (45km north-east of Donetsk) and the government-controlled neighbourhood of Zhovanka in Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk), about 500m east of a checkpoint in Maiorsk. The JCCC officers had also said that as a result of the explosion the man had died on the spot and the woman had been severely injured. Medical staff at the hospital told the SMM that the deceased man had been sent to a morgue in Bakhmut and the injured woman (born in 1981), a resident of Zhovanka, had been admitted with blast trauma to her head on the evening of 7 July and then transferred to a hospital in Dnipro for further treatment. The police in Bakhmut confirmed to the SMM the abovementioned details, adding that the deceased man was a resident of Zhovanka and had been born in 1979.

In “LPR”-controlled Zolote-5 (61km west of Luhansk), accompanied by two civilians, the SMM saw a fresh crater in a park near Myru Street and 100m from the nearest house to which the SMM observed no damage. The SMM assessed it as caused by automatic grenade launcher (AGS, 30mm) fire but it was unable to assess the direction of fire. The two civilians told the SMM that they had heard an impact between 00:30 and 01:30 on 10 July.

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 2016. The SMM’s access remained restricted but the Mission was able to partially monitor them.*

While present in Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and government-controlled Bohdanivka (41km south-west of Donetsk), west of the Petrivske disengagement area, for about 30 minutes, the SMM observed a calm situation.

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

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites, the SMM saw ten self-propelled howitzers (2S3 Akatsiya, 152mm) loaded on train cars at a railway station in government-controlled Rubizhne (84km north-west of Luhansk).

The SMM revisited a permanent storage site in non-government-controlled areas, whose location corresponded with the withdrawal lines, and continued to note that three tanks (T-72) were missing.

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles and anti-aircraft guns[2] in the security zone. In government-controlled areas, the SMM saw an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (Saxon) near Bohdanivka (60km south-east of Donetsk). In Stanytsia Luhanska the SMM saw one stationary IFV (BMP-2) outside the disengagement area.

On 7 July an SMM mid-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted two IFVs (one BMP-1 and one BMP-variant), three APCs (one MT-LB, one MT-LB variant and one probable BTR), one probable anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23, 23mm) mounted on a truck and one fuel truck near Muratove (51km north-west of Luhansk).

In non-government-controlled areas, the SMM saw three APCs (BTR-80) near Kadiivka. On 6 July an SMM mid-range UAV spotted three APCs (one MT-LB and two MT-LB variant), one anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23), two fuel trucks and two fortified positions leading to a trench network, one of which showed possible signs of recent works, near Kalynove (60km west of Luhansk).

The SMM observed the presence of a mine hazard sign and unexploded ordnance (UXO). The SMM saw for the first time a red mine sign on a metal barrier (with a skull-and-crossbones sign) reading “Danger mines” in English and in Russian on the road at the eastern edge of “DPR”-controlled Nova Marivka (64km south of Donetsk), which leads to road T0508. As the barrier was blocking the road, the SMM was unable to proceed into the town (see below).*

The SMM again saw the tailfin of an unexploded 120mm mortar round sticking out of the asphalt road about 75m south of a “DPR” checkpoint 2km east of government-controlled Staromarivka (62km south of Donetsk). (See SMM Daily Report 6 July 2017.)

Following up on information provided by the JCCC that an improvised explosive device had been found on the side of the road between “DPR”-controlled Verkhnoshyrokivske (formerly Oktiabr, 29km north-eat of Mariupol) and government-controlled Pyshchevyk (25km north-east of Mariupol) and that it had been subsequently destroyed by Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel in a controlled detonation on 9 June, the SMM observed a fresh crater (50-80cm deep) at the said location on 10 June.

The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs, co-ordinated by the JCCC, to the high voltage Mykhailivka-Almazna power line near Pervomaisk. (See SMM Daily Report 10 July 2017.)

The SMM visited one border area not under government control. At the border crossing point in Novoazovsk (40km east of Mariupol), in about 45 minutes the SMM saw 31 vehicles (13 with Ukrainian, nine with Russian Federation, one with Polish, one with German and one with Lithuanian licence plates, and six with “DPR” plates) and one truck (with Ukrainian licence plates) in a queue to exit Ukraine. The SMM also saw seven vehicles (four with Ukrainian and three with Russian Federation licence plates) and one truck (with Ukrainian licence plates) enter Ukraine.

On the evening of 7 July for about three hours, the SMM monitored a memorial march in Kyiv organized by Sokil, the youth wing of the Svoboda political party, as previously announced in the media, in honour of a Ukrainian Armed Forces commander who was killed while on duty in eastern Ukraine in October 2016. The SMM saw about 200-250 participants (both men and women, mostly teenagers and young people in their twenties, almost all of them wearing military-style camouflage clothing or T-shirts with Sokil logo), marching along Hrushevskhoho and Instytutska Streets towards Kontraktova Square in the Podil district. The SMM initially saw eight police officers and three police cars and subsequently noted an increased security presence with about 50 National Guard officers in riot gear and a dozen police officers. When the march reached Instytutska Street the SMM saw what it assessed as smoke canisters thrown by participants, causing no damage but covering the street in smoke. The police did not intervene and continued to monitor the march nearby. The march passed off without further incidents.

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

*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, 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 JCCC should contribute to such response and co-ordinate mine clearance. The SMM’s operations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions remained restricted following the fatal incident of 23 April near Pryshyb; these restrictions continued to limit the Mission’s observations, including at the disengagement area near Petrivske.

Denial of access:

Related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:

• A Ukrainian officer of the JCCC told the SMM that no demining activities had taken place during the previous 24 hours in the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area and that, with the exception of the main road, the SMM’s safety could not be guaranteed in the surrounding areas due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.
• Armed “LPR” members positioned on the southern side of the Zolote disengagement area (3km north of Pervomaisk) told the SMM that that they could not guarantee the safety of the Mission on side roads due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.
• The SMM could not travel across 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.
• A metal barrier with a mine hazard sign placed on the road at the eastern edge of Nova Marivka prevented the SMM proceeding into the town. The SMM informed the JCCC.

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