Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 12 July 2018

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Krasnohorivka and Zoria. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Petrivske disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas as well as near Zaichenko and near Dovzhanske, near the border with the Russian Federation.* The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Muratove and Kreminna. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to other essential civilian infrastructure near Zalizne, Zaitseve, Novotoshkivske, Raivka and Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM monitored a court hearing in Kherson and a gathering in Kyiv.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations,[1] including about 300 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 25 explosions).

On the evening and night of 11-12 July, the SMM camera at the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) (15km north of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, five projectiles in flight from north-west to south-east, a projectile from north-north-west to south-south-east and a projectile from north-west to south-east, followed by totals of 51 projectiles (24 from east to west, nine from south-east to north-west, seven from south-south-east to north-north-west, seven from north-north-west to south-south-east, two in vertical flight, one from west to east and one from north-west to south-east), all 0.5-3km south.

On the evening and night of 11-12 July, the SMM camera at the entry-exit checkpoint in Maiorsk (government-controlled, 45km north-east of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, 38 undetermined explosions, a burst from north to south and a burst from south to north, followed by totals of ten undetermined explosions, a burst from south to north and six projectiles in flight (four from west-north-west to east-south-east and two from south to north), all 1-6km east.

On the evening and night of 11-12 July, while in Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 38 undetermined explosions and about 480 bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 3-5km south-south-east. On the following day, while at the same location, the SMM heard 11 undetermined explosions and three bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 3-5km south-east.

During the day on 12 July, positioned 1.1km north-west of the railway station in Yasynuvata (non-government-controlled, 16km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard and saw two explosions assessed as impacts 3-4km south-west and heard 29 undetermined explosions 2-8km south-south-west and south-west.

Positioned 1.6km south-east of Kamianka (government-controlled, 20km north of Donetsk), the SMM heard 18 undetermined explosions and two shots of small-arms fire, all 1-6km south-east, south-west and west.

Positioned about 2km north-west of Debaltseve (non-government-controlled, 58km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard and saw 62 explosions assessed as impacts of undetermined weapon rounds and heard 32 explosions (22 assessed as undetermined, eight as outgoing rounds and two as impacts of undetermined weapon rounds) and two bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 5-12km at directions ranging from south-south-west to north-west.

Positioned in the south-eastern outskirts of Avdiivka (government-controlled, 17km north of Donetsk), the SMM heard 20 undetermined explosions and about 60 shots and bursts of small-arms fire, all 0.5-5km at directions ranging from north-east to south.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations[2], including about 15 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (no ceasefire violations).

During the day on 12 July, positioned in Kapitanove (government-controlled, 50km north-west of Luhansk), the SMM heard 12 explosions assessed as mortar rounds 5-7km south-west.

The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties. On 12 July, at a hospital in Kurakhove (government-controlled, 40km west of Donetsk), a 60-year-old man told the SMM that on 10 July he had gone to visit his house which was damaged at the beginning of the conflict and is located at 6 Chaikovskoho Street in Krasnohorivka (government-controlled, 21km west of Donetsk) and at around 09:30 he had been hit in the groin by a bullet while in front of the house. He added that after receiving first aid at the hospital in Krasnohorivka, he had been taken to the hospital in Kurakhove where he underwent an operation. Medical staff at the hospital in Kurakhove told the SMM that the man had been admitted around 12:30 on 10 July and that the wound had been caused by a bullet.

On 3 July, medical staff at a hospital in Kostiantynivka (government-controlled, 60km north of Donetsk) told the SMM that a 16-year old boy  had been admitted on 1 July with injuries consistent with an explosion of a piece of unexploded ordnance (UXO), and had been transferred to the Kharkiv regional children’s hospital on 2 July. On 4 July, at the Kharkiv regional children’s hospital, medical staff told the SMM that the boy had lost his left hand and right eye and had sustained shrapnel injuries to his brain. On 6 July, the boy’s mother (aged 50) told the SMM that on the evening of 1 July she had found her son lying on the floor of her apartment in Zoria (government-controlled, 40km north-west of Donetsk) and that on 5 July the boy had successfully undergone surgery at the Okhmatdyt National Children’s Specialized Hospital in Kyiv. On 10 July, a police officer in Kostiantynivka  told the SMM that the boy had been injured in Zoria on 1 July after a piece of UXO that he had found in a wooden area near the village exploded in his hands at his mother’s apartment in Zoria.

The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement process and to pursue full access to the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk), Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) and Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 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.*

Positioned in Petrivske for about an hour, the SMM heard 20 undetermined explosions 5-8km north-west and a shot of small-arms fire 2km south, all assessed as outside the disengagement area.

Positioned near the Stanytsia Luhanska and Zolote disengagement areas, the SMM observed calm situations.

The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons in implementation of the Memorandum and the Package of Measures and its Addendum. In violation of withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas, the SMM saw a surface-to-air missile system (9K33 Osa) near Muratove (51km north-west of Luhansk) and a multiple launch rocket system (BM-27 Uragan, 220mm) moving west in Kreminna (97km north-west of Luhansk).

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles[3] in the security zone. In government-controlled areas, on 11 July, an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle spotted three infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) (two BMP-2 and a BMP-1) near Nelipivka (40km north-east of Donetsk). On 12 July, the SMM saw an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (BRDM variant) near Heivka (27km north-west of Luhansk). In a non-government-controlled area, on 12 July, the SMM saw an IFV (BMP-1) in Debaltseve.

The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring adherence to the ceasefire. Positioned in areas near the DFS, the SMM heard ceasefire violations, despite explicit security guarantees (see above and table below for details). The SMM also continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to the phenol sludge reservoir near Zalizne (formerly Artemove, government-controlled, 42km north-east of Donetsk), to a water pipeline near the non-government-controlled part of Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk), to a water pipeline in Novotoshkivske (government-controlled, 53km west of Luhansk), to a power line near Raivka (non-government-controlled, 16km north-west of Luhansk) and to a fibre optic cable near Stanytsia Luhanska.

The SMM visited a border area not under government control. While at a border crossing point near Dovzhanske (84km south-east of Luhansk), the SMM saw a bus (with Ukrainian licence plates), four cars (licence plates not visible) and ten pedestrians exiting Ukraine, and a bus (with Ukrainian licence plates), a covered cargo truck (with “LPR” plates), two cars (one with Ukrainian licence plates and one with “LPR” plates) and two pedestrians entering Ukraine. After 30 minutes, a member of the armed formations told the SMM to leave the area.*

In Kyiv, the SMM continued to monitor a gathering (see SMM Daily 12 July 2018). The Mission saw about 500 people (mostly men, 30-60 years old) in front of the Parliament building at 5 Hrushevskoho Street and about 700 cars (mostly with foreign licence plates)  blocking Hrushevskoho Street from Kriposnyi Lane to Shovkovychna Street, as well as yellow flags with “Auto Euro Power” written on them. It heard protestors calling for a draft law related to the registration of cars with foreign licence plates to be rejected. It saw about 50 police officers in front of the Parliament building as well as 15 police buses nearby. Around 16:00, the number of protestors increased to about 2,000 and the SMM saw about 250 police officers. The SMM saw protestors trying to block the exits of the Parliament. The protest ended around 20:00.

In Kherson, the SMM monitored a court hearing for Kyrylo Vyshynskyi, the editor-in-chief of RIA Novosti Ukraine arrested in Kyiv on 15 May (see SMM Daily Report 18 May 2018). At the Kherson city court, Vyshynskyi was charged under Article 263(1) of the Criminal Code (unlawful handling of weapons, ammunition or explosives), in addition to the previous charges under Article 111 (high treason). After hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defence, the judge extended the existing detention order by 60 days. The SMM observed a calm situation around the court.

The SMM continued monitoring in Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, 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 Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) should contribute to such response and co-ordinate mine clearance. Nonetheless, the armed formations in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions frequently deny the SMM access to areas adjacent to Ukraine’s border outside control of the Government (see below). The SMM’s operations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions remain restricted following the fatal incident of 23 April 2017 near Pryshyb; these restrictions continued to limit the Mission’s observations.

Denial of access:

• At a border crossing point near Dovzhanske, a member of the armed formations told the SMM to leave the area.
• Three armed members of the armed formations at a checkpoint near Zaichenko (nongovernment-controlled, 26km north-east of Mariupol) again prevented the SMM from accessing Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, non-government-controlled, 23km north-east of Mariupol) and Sakhanka (non-government-controlled, 24km north-east of Mariupol). (See SMM Daily Report 12 July 2018.)

Regular restrictions related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:

• The SMM was prevented from accessing parts of the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, with the exception of the main road, due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC told the SMM that no demining had taken place during the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.[4]
• The SMM was prevented from accessing secondary roads in the Zolote disengagement area due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC told the SMM by phone that no demining had taken place during the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.4
• The SMM was prevented from accessing secondary roads south of the Zolote disengagement area due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. An unarmed formation member positioned on the southern side of the Zolote disengagement area told the SMM that no demining had taken place during the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed.

[1] TPlease see the annexed table for a complete breakdown of the ceasefire violations as well as a map of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions marked with locations featured in this report. he SMM camera at the entry-exit checkpoint in Marinka was not operational during the reporting period.

* Please see the section at the end of this report entitled “Restrictions of SMM’s freedom of movement or other impediments to fulfilment of its mandate”.

[2] For a complete breakdown of the ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table. The SMM camera at the entry-exit checkpoint in Marinka was not operational during the reporting period.

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

[4] The SMM informed Ukrainian Armed Forces officers of the JCCC. Russian Federation Armed Forces officers of the JCCC have withdrawn from the JCCC as of 18 December 2017.