Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30, 15 July 2016
In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded a slightly higher number of ceasefire violations including nearly 400 explosions, compared to the previous reporting period, with violence focused in the Avdiivka/Yasynuvata area, and Shyrokyne. In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded a high number of ceasefire violations compared to none during the previous reporting period, noting a sharp increase of violence, including over 550 explosions on the night of 14 July in the area of Stanytsia Luhanska. The SMM followed up on reports of shelling and conducted crater analysis in Marinka, Maiorsk, Petrovskyi district of Donetsk city and in Stanytsia Luhanska. It followed up on reports about civilian casualties in Staromykhailivka and Zaitseve. Armed “LPR” members repeatedly denied the SMM access to Stanytsia Luhanska bridge.*
In Donetsk region the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations[1] compared to the previous reporting period, including nearly 400 explosions.
On the night of 14 July, positioned in Donetsk city centre the SMM heard eight undetermined explosions 3-5km north-north-west of its position. During the same night, whilst in “DPR”-controlled Horlivka (39km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard five explosions caused by 120mm mortar round impacts and 13 undetermined explosions 8-12km south-west and west-south-west of its position.
Whilst in “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata (16km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 55 undetermined explosions 3-6km west and north-west of its position. Positioned in government-controlled Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk), the SMM heard more than 270 explosions (six of which were assesses as caused by outgoing 122mm artillery rounds, and 180 as caused by mortar rounds – including 144 outgoing rounds, 24 impacts and 12 undetermined) at 1-9km in a clockwise arc from the north to the south. The most intense ceasefire violations were noted between 17:02 and 17:35, when the SMM recorded 213 explosions – including 56 assessed as outgoing rounds at 1-4km north-east, 80 undetermined explosions at 2-8km east-south-east, 20 as impacts at 3-6km south-south-east, and 57 as outgoing at 1-4km south of its position.
During the night of 14-15 July, the SMM camera in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), recorded, at unknown distances at locations ranging from north to north-east, ten explosions (one of them assessed as impact) and 16 rocket-assisted projectiles (four fired from east to west, seven fired from north-west to south-east, four fired north-east to south-east and one fired from north to west). The camera recorded, during nearly seven hours, exchanges of a total of 262 bursts of direct tracer fire.
In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded a high number of ceasefire violations compared with none during the previous reporting period. During the night of 14 July, positioned in government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk), the SMM heard more than 100 explosions assessed as mortar rounds, more than 450 explosions (impacts and outgoing) assessed as automatic-grenade-launcher fire, more than 300 bursts of infantry fighting vehicle (IFV; BMP-2) cannon (30mm) fire, 3,000 bursts and shots of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 4-6km south-south-west of its position. During the same night, whilst in government-controlled Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk), the SMM heard 20 undetermined explosions 1.5-2km to the south. Whilst in government-controlled Troitske (69km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard 27 explosions assessed as caused by automatic-grenade-launcher fire 5km east of its position.
The following day, whilst at the “LPR” checkpoint immediately south of the bridge in Stanytsia Luhanska, the SMM heard one undetermined explosion 50m north-west of its position. Subsequently, whilst between the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge and Luhansk city, the SMM saw two ambulances heading towards the bridge at high speed. At the “LPR” checkpoint, a medical staff later told the SMM that they had transported two men (one “LPR” member aged 45 and a civilian man aged 38) with shrapnel injuries to a hospital in Luhansk city. The SMM saw small blood stains on the ground near the booth of the checkpoint.
The SMM followed up on reports of shelling and conducted crater analysis on both sides of the contact line. On 14 July, in government-controlled Marinka (23km south-west of Donetsk), the SMM observed 11 fresh craters – two in a residential area, two in a closed factory and seven in a Ukrainian Armed Forces compound – and assessed them as caused by 122mm artillery rounds fired from a north-easterly and an east-north-easterly directions. The SMM saw four of those craters on asphalt roads, damage to surrounding trees and shattered windows of vacant office buildings.
At the government checkpoint in Maiorsk (45km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM analysed four fresh craters – two on the asphalt of a road and two in the soil on the side of the road. It assessed three as caused by 82mm mortar and the fourth as caused by 120mm mortar, all fired from an easterly or south-easterly direction.
In Petrovskyi district of Donetsk city (15km south-west of the city centre), the SMM saw the destroyed roof of a concrete house – assessed as resulting from a direct impact to its south-west facing roof slope – and a completely collapsed storehouse – located in the garden 5m north of a house. Around the impacts the SMM observed pieces of shrapnel consistent with shells of 122mm artillery rounds. Several residents separately told the SMM that shelling had occurred the previous night.
On the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge the SMM saw one fresh impact on a barrier (a tyre filled with sand) of an “LPR” forward position north of the Siverskyi Donets river and assessed it as caused by an undetermined weapon fired from a north-westerly direction.
The SMM followed up on reports about civilian casualties. The SMM followed up on information that a civilian had allegedly been killed during shelling in “DPR”-controlled Staromykhailivka (15km west of Donetsk) on 12 July. The head of the morgue of the Kalinin regional hospital in “DPR”-controlled Donetsk city told the SMM that the body of a man (resident of Staromykhailivka) had been brought to the morgue on 12 July with multiple shrapnel wounds. The SMM also followed up on reports of a civilian wounded during an intensive exchange of small-arms fire in Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk) on 14 July. The head of the intensive care unit at Horlivka No.2 hospital confirmed to the SMM that a 79-year-old man had suffered shrapnel injuries.
The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons, in accordance with the Package of Measures and its Addendum, as well as the Minsk Memorandum.
In violation of the respective withdrawal line, an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted four towed howitzers (2A65 Msta-B, 152mm) in “DPR”-controlled Kaiutyne (47km north-east of Donetsk).
The SMM observed weapons in areas known to the SMM, which it could not verify as withdrawn as they do not comply with the criteria set in the 16 October 2015 notification. In government-controlled areas beyond the respective withdrawal lines, the SMM observed ten multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS; BM-27 Uragan, 220mm). The SMM also observed one such area which continued to be abandoned and one area which was observed as abandoned for the first time. The SMM noted, as observed previously, that 18 anti-tank guns (15 MT-12 Rapira, 100mm and three D-48 85mm) and 31 tanks (T-64) were still missing; and noted for the first time that 15 anti-tank guns (MT-12 Rapira, 100mm) were missing.
The SMM observed the presence of armoured combat vehicles and anti-aircraft weapons in the security zone. In government-controlled areas the SMM observed: two IFVs (one BMP-2 and one BMP-1Ksh) stationary near Nyzhnie (56km north-west), five IFVs (BMP-2) stationary near Novotoshkivske (53km west of Luhansk), one light-armoured vehicle (Kraz Cougar) mounted with a heavy machine-gun stationary near Zolote (60km west of Luhansk), two anti-aircraft guns (one ZU-23, 23mm and ZPU, 14.5mm) on the ground near Staryi Aidar (20km north-west of Luhansk). Aerial surveillance imagery available to the SMM revealed the presence of three armoured vehicles near government-controlled Hirske (63km west of Luhansk), eight armoured vehicles near “DPR”-controlled Debaltseve (58km north-east of Donetsk), and ten armoured vehicles near “DPR”-controlled Kalmiuske (formerly Komsomolske, 42km south-east of Donetsk), all on 13 July. An SMM long-range UAV spotted two armoured vehicles near government-controlled Zaitseve (62km north-east of Donetsk) and ten armoured vehicles in the vicinity of government-controlled Semyhiria (58km north-east of Donetsk).
The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential infrastructure. In the area between government-controlled Trokhizbenka, “LPR”-controlled Pryshyb and Slovianoserbsk (32, 34 and 28km north-west of Luhansk, respectively), the SMM monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works on gas pipelines. In Shchastia, the SMM monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works at the power plant.
The SMM continued to observe queues at entry-exit checkpoints along the contact line. At a government checkpoint in Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk) the SMM observed a queue of 81 civilian cars and 180 pedestrians waiting to leave government-controlled areas. At a checkpoint in Horlivka the SMM observed 330 civilian cars waiting to travel to government-controlled areas.
On 14 July, at the “LPR” checkpoint immediately south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, the SMM observed medical staff helping a woman (aged 70), who had fallen. A nurse told the SMM that on the day many elderly people had fainted due to heatstroke after waiting for several hours in the queue. The following day, at the southernmost Ukrainian Armed Forces forward position north of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, the SMM observed that the passage of people was temporarily suspended as Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel were unloading new concrete blocks from a truck and reinforcing their positions. A queue of about 40 people on each side of the position was kept waiting for about 20 minutes, after which the passage resumed.
In “DPR”-controlled Makiivka (12km north-east of Donetsk), a former worker in a coal mine told the SMM that about 20 mines were currently operating in “DPR”-controlled areas, mainly producing coke coal, which was exported to the Russian Federation or government-controlled areas. On the northern outskirts of a government-controlled part of Zolote, the SMM observed a train made up of approximately 30 freight cars loaded with coal travelling from “LPR”-controlled areas to government-controlled areas.
*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 the “LPR” checkpoint immediately south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, an armed “LPR” member denied the SMM access to the bridge as it did not provide its patrol plan (in the Russian language). The SMM informed the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC).
- In the early afternoon, at the same checkpoint, an armed “LPR” member and a civilian man again did not allow the SMM to proceed further to the bridge. The SMM informed the JCCC.
- In “LPR”-controlled Kalynove (60km west of Luhansk), armed men did not allow the SMM to operate a mini UAV in the area. The SMM informed the JCCC.
[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.