Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30hrs, 28 April 2016

This report is for media and the general public.

The SMM continued to record a high number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. It continued to follow up on civilian fatalities sustained by shelling in Olenivka and reports on people wounded in the incident. The Mission found no information to confirm media reports about casualties resulting from a trip wire explosion in Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM observed the presence of numerous weapons in violation of the respective withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It also monitored several public gatherings in Kyiv.

The SMM continued to observe a significant number of ceasefire violations, including overnight, in Donetsk region.[1] In the evening hours of 27 April, whilst in Donetsk city centre, the SMM heard seven undetermined explosions 7-10km north-west of its location. The following day, from a position at “DPR”-controlled Donetsk central railway station (6km north-west of Donetsk city centre), the SMM heard 42 undetermined explosions, 46 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, and six bursts and 33 single shots of small-arms fire, mostly at locations ranging from west to north 2-10km of its position.

On the evening of 27 April in government-controlled Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard six explosions assessed as outgoing rounds of artillery, 84 explosions (43 impacts and 41 outgoing rounds) of mortar (82 and 120mm), 57 explosions assessed as impacts of automatic-grenade-launcher fire, 24 explosions assessed as caused by rocket-propelled grenade launchers (RPG-7) and 73mm cannon (BMP-1) fire, and nine explosions caused by impacts and nine outgoing rounds of recoilless gun (SPG-9) fire 2-3km south-south-east, as well as two explosions of outgoing mortar rounds (82mm), nine explosions caused by impacts of automatic-grenade-launcher fire and one explosion caused by impact of recoilless gun (SPG-9) fire, all at 4-5km south-west of its position.

Positioned in “DPR”-controlled Horlivka (39km north-east of Donetsk) on the evening of 27 April the SMM heard 23 explosions assessed as impacts of artillery and mortar rounds, five explosions assessed as outgoing rounds of artillery (undetermined calibre) and 34 bursts of anti-aircraft gun, automatic-grenade-launcher, heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire 4-6km south and south-west of its position. On the following day, whilst at the same position, the SMM heard 83 explosions of outgoing automatic-grenade-launcher fire and 20 bursts of small-arms fire, 3-4km south-west of its position. Whilst in “DPR”-controlled Debaltseve (58km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 20 undetermined explosions and two bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire 8-12km south-west, west, and north-west of its position.

On the evening of 27 April, an SMM camera in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) recorded 19 bursts of tracer fire from west to east and three flashes of light at an undetermined distance to the north.

In Luhansk region, the SMM observed multiple ceasefire violations, while – unlike the previous three days –  it recorded no ceasefire violations in areas of government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), including during the evening hours of 27 April. Whilst in “LPR”-controlled Kalynove (58km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard nine explosions assessed as caused by outgoing rounds of artillery 4km south-west of its position. While positioned at a checkpoint near government-controlled Trokhizbenka (33km north-west of Luhansk), the SMM heard few minutes of continuous bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire 600m to the south.

The SMM continued to follow up on information about civilian fatalities caused by a shelling incident in “DPR”-controlled Olenivka (23km south-west of Donetsk) on 27 April and reports on people wounded in the incident (see SMM Spot Report 28 April 2016). The head doctor of Kalinina morgue in Donetsk city told the SMM that the reported pregnancy of the female victim – one of four human bodies transported to the morgue from Olenivka – had not been confirmed after medical examination. The head doctor of Donetsk traumatology centre told the SMM that five civilians injured during the incident had been medically treated in the centre. According to him, one man (aged 55), who had sustained shrapnel injuries, was under intensive care, one teenager (aged 15) was being treated at the children’s trauma unit, and three others (two men and one woman), who had sustained lighter injuries, had been released after outpatient treatment.

In relation to the implementation of the Addendum to the Package of Measures, the SMM revisited Ukrainian Armed Forces permanent storage sites whose locations corresponded with the withdrawal lines and observed that 55 tanks (ten T-72 and 45 T-64), eight  mortars (2B9, 82mm) and eight anti-tank guns (D-44, 85mm) were missing. 

In violation of the respective withdrawal lines the SMM observed seven tanks (T-72) in “LPR”-controlled Luhansk city.

Beyond the withdrawal lines but outside storage sites, the SMM observed 20 tanks (T-64 and T-72) at a training ground in “LPR”-controlled Kruhlyk (32km south-west of Luhansk).

The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of heavy weapons foreseen in the Minsk Package of Measures. The SMM has yet to receive the full information requested in the 16 October 2015 notification.

The SMM revisited an “LPR” heavy weapons permanent storage site and observed that eight self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) continued to be absent, as first noted on 12 April.

In violation of the respective withdrawal lines, the SMM observed: two surface-to-air missile systems (SA-8 Osa, 120mm) near government-controlled Novoaidar (49km north-west of Luhansk); two howitzers (2A65 Msta-B, 152mm) towed by two trucks, two anti-tank guns (MT-12 Rapira,100mm) towed by two trucks and three multiple launch rocket system (MLRS; BM-21 Grad, 122mm), in a convoy with three armoured personnel carriers (APCs), heading south-east in “DPR”-controlled Donetsk city; seven MLRS (BM-21 Grad, 122mm), seven self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm), and ten towed howitzers (five 2A65 Msta-B, 152mm, and five D-30 Lyagushka, 122mm) in “LPR”-controlled Luhansk city.

The SMM observed the presence of armoured combat vehicles and an anti-aircraft weapon in the security zone. The SMM observed: two APCs (BTR-70) heading south near government-controlled Trokhizbenka; an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23) mounted on a military-type truck (Ural), stationary near an “LPR” checkpoint across the bridge south of government-controlled Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk).

The SMM followed up on media reports that a young couple had been allegedly killed by a trip wire explosion while trying to bypass the closed checkpoint in government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska on 27 April. The SMM spoke to numerous interlocutors, including Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel, a border guard officer, a shopkeeper, hospital personnel in Stanytsia Luhanska, as well as the commander at an “LPR” checkpoint on the southern side of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, and none of them had information confirming the alleged incident.

The SMM facilitated the removal of unsecured storage of mines in the security zone. In government-controlled Novotoshkivske (53km west of Luhansk), the SMM saw anti-tank mines – at least eight pieces were visible – partially covered in a black garbage bag on the grass behind a bus station without any mine hazard signs or the presence of Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel nearby. After the SMM had informed the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) and the head of the military-civil administration of the village, the SMM observed Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel arriving at the site and removing the mines. Shortly later, the SMM received a call from the JCCC saying the mines were removed by Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel and placed at a secure location in a military compound.

The SMM continued to monitor long queues at entry-exit checkpoints near the contact line. On 27 April, at a checkpoint in government-controlled Maiorsk (45km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM observed 120 civilian vehicles queuing to travel north. Ten civilians (men and women in their fifties to sixties) present told the SMM that they had been waiting for two days, spending the night in their cars, to travel to government-controlled areas. The following day, at a checkpoint near government-controlled Marinka (23km south-west of Donetsk), the SMM observed 80 civilian cars and 450 pedestrians waiting to travel to government-controlled areas and 463 civilian cars and 500 pedestrians heading in the opposite direction. At a checkpoint in government-controlled Novotroitske (36km south-west of Donetsk), Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel told the SMM  that civilian cars were not allowed to proceed to the north until further notice as the “DPR”-controlled checkpoint in Olenivka had been closed after the shelling incident of 27 April. A group of eight civilian passengers waiting next to their cars south of the checkpoint stated that due to the closure of the checkpoint in Novotroitske they were not able to return to their homes.

The SMM monitored a border area not controlled by the Government. At the border crossing point in Uspenka (“DPR”-controlled, 73km south-east of Donetsk), the SMM observed 20 trucks and 46 civilian cars (mostly with Ukrainian licence plates and also some with Russian, and one with Abkhazian “licence plates”) waiting to cross into the Russian Federation.

In Kyiv, the SMM monitored several public gatherings. In front of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) building, the SMM observed a gathering initiated by the non-governmental organization Committee for the Liberation of Political Prisoners to express their support for a detained member of the Azov Civil Corps. The SMM saw approximately 50 demonstrators (men aged between 20 and 50) including seven in green military-type uniforms with Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists insignia and five wearing jackets with the painted inscription Azov Civil Corps. Subsequently, the demonstrators moved to Lybydska Square, where 20 of them built a scaffolding 8m high next to the monument to VeCheKa staff (dedicated to early Soviet-era state security organization), and several men climbed to the top and started hitting the monument with a sledgehammer and an electric drill. The SMM saw that the monument was partially damaged and small pieces of granite fell off. Approximately ten police officers, who did not intervene, and as many journalists were present.  

The SMM continued to monitor the situation in Kherson, Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Dnepropetrovsk, and Chernivtsi.

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

The SMM’s monitoring is restrained by security hazards and threats, including risks posed by mines and unexploded ordnance, and by restrictions of its freedom of movement 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.

Denial of access:

• In the morning hours, at a checkpoint near “DPR”-controlled Kreminets (19km south-west of Donetsk), armed men did not allow the SMM to proceed further west after the SMM declined to present national passports of its members and vehicle registration documents. The SMM turned back and took an alternate route. The SMM informed the JCCC.

Conditional access:

• In the morning hours, at the aforementioned checkpoint near “DPR”-controlled Kreminets, armed men demanded to see national passports of SMM monitors and vehicles registration documents of the patrol different from the aforementioned, before allowing the SMM to proceed further west.
• At a “DPR” checkpoint in Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk), an armed man asked to see the content of the trunks of the SMM vehicles, including luggage. After this inspection, he allowed the SMM to proceed to the south.

Delay:

• In the afternoon, the “commander” denied the SMM passage through a checkpoint H15 Overpass, when the SMM refused to hand over national passports of its members. Thirty-three minutes later, the SMM again approached the checkpoint and was allowed to proceed to the east after showing OSCE IDs of its monitors.

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