Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, based on information received as of 19:30, 26 August 2016

This report is for media and the general public.

The SMM recorded fewer explosions in Donetsk region on 26 August (at least 406) compared with the previous reporting period (over 543). The SMM also recorded significantly fewer explosions in Luhansk region (at least eight) compared with the previous day (nearly 200). It followed up on reports of civilian casualties and analysed craters on both sides of the contact line, in Donetsk city, Kostiantynivka, Stanytsia Luhanska, Marinka and Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove). The SMM continued to monitor the withdrawal of weapons and noted the presence of armoured combat vehicles and an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the security zone. The SMM monitored the situation of civilians travelling across the contact line at Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, and two border areas not controlled by the Government. It faced two denials to its freedom of movement.* The Mission observed a calm situation along the administrative boundary line with Crimea and observed three public gatherings in Kyiv and the cancellation of a public hearing at the city council in Odessa.

The SMM noted a decrease in the number of ceasefire violations observed in Donetsk region, which included at least 406 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period during which more than 543 explosions were recorded.[1]

The highest number of ceasefire violations was again recorded in the Avdiivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport triangle. On the night of 25 August, while positioned in Donetsk city centre, the SMM heard 52 undetermined explosions 7-10km north-west of its position. Positioned in “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata (16km north-east of Donetsk) during the day on 26 August, the SMM heard 181 undetermined explosions and more than 30 minutes of continuous heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 3-7km west and north-west of its position. On the same day, positioned in government-controlled Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk), the SMM heard 75 explosions; six assessed as outgoing mortar rounds (undetermined calibre), 35 assessed as outgoing rounds and four as impacts from unknown weapons, four assessed as outgoing rounds of infantry fighting vehicle (IFV; BMP-1) cannon (73mm) fire, and 26 assessed as undetermined; all 2-6km east and south-east of the SMM’s position. In addition, the SMM camera in Avdiivka recorded nine explosions assessed as impacts and four undetermined explosions 3-5km east-south-east of the camera’s position.

Around noon on 26 August, positioned in “DPR”-controlled Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, 23km north-east of Mariupol), the SMM heard 14 undetermined explosions east-south-east, south and south-west of its position. The SMM also heard five explosions assessed as automatic-grenade-launcher rounds and one burst of small-arms fire, all 100m west-north-west of its position.

On the morning of 26 August, whilst in Mariupol, the SMM heard 29 undetermined explosions, 15km north-east and undetermined distances east and north-east of its position.

Positioned in “DPR”-controlled Horlivka (39km north-east of Donetsk) during the late afternoon of 26 August, the SMM heard four explosions assessed as outgoing 82mm mortar rounds 3km north-west of its position.

In Luhansk region the SMM noted a significantly lower level of violence (up to nine explosions) compared with the previous day, when nearly 200 explosions were recorded. Whilst in government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk) on the evening of 25 August, the SMM heard five undetermined explosions 10-15km west-south-west of its position and heard one undetermined explosion and saw three to four airbursts 3-5km south-south-west of its position. While stationary at a Ukrainian Armed Forces position in government-controlled Krymske (42km north-west of Luhansk) on 26 August, the SMM heard the noise of an unidentified unmanned aerial vehicle flying overhead. The SMM heard a Ukrainian Armed Forces commander order to shoot the UAV down. Shortly after, the SMM heard one burst of small-arms fire approximately 50m east of its position.

The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties, observed the results of shelling and analysed craters on both sides of the contact line. The SMM, accompanied by a Russian Federation officer at the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC), spoke with a patient (a 57-year-old man) at a hospital in Donetsk city who told the SMM that his home had been hit by a grenade round on 24 August and he had been wounded by shrapnel in his ankle. Hospital personnel said the man had received his injuries as the result shelling in Oleksandrivka (20km south-west of Donetsk) on 24 August.

On 26 August, at a hospital in government-controlled Kostiantynivka (60km north of Donetsk), a 44-year-old man (a firefighter by profession) told the SMM that he was extinguishing a fire in a field between the government-controlled settlements of Toretsk (formerly Dzerzhynsk) and Novhorodske (respectively 43 and 35km north of Donetsk) when an explosion occurred 1.5m from him. The SMM observed wounds on the left side of the man’s head. Two doctors separately, and a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC and a representative from the State Emergency Service, corroborated the man’s story. On 25 August, in government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska, the SMM observed that an electricity line over a roof had been severed. A worker from an electrical company told the SMM that the cable had been damaged the night before. The SMM also observed a hole in the middle of the roof of the same house. The SMM observed fresh craters in the garden of the house and assessed that the damage had been caused by three or four rounds from an automatic grenade launcher (AGS-17) fired from an undetermined direction. The owner of the house told the SMM that her husband had been injured in the shelling and was in a hospital in Stanytsia Luhanska. A doctor at the hospital confirmed to the SMM that a male resident of the damaged house had been admitted to the hospital with injuries.

On the same day, the SMM observed fresh damage to the southernmost Ukrainian Armed Forces position north of Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. The SMM assessed damage to defensive structures as having been caused by an automatic-grenade-launcher round (AGS-17) or a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG-17) fired from a south-easterly direction. The SMM also observed two fresh craters south of the position which it assessed as caused by automatic-grenade-launcher rounds (AGS-17) fired from a south-westerly direction.

In government-controlled Marinka (23km south-west of Donetsk), the SMM followed up on reports of shelling on 24 and 25 August. The SMM observed a direct impact to a tree and shrapnel damage to the walls and roof of a house in front of the tree. The SMM assessed the impact as having been caused by a 125mm tank round fired from a north-easterly direction. At a second site, the SMM also found a direct impact to a tree approximately 15m from a house. The SMM observed shrapnel damage to a shed and assessed the impact to have been caused by a 125mm tank round fired from a north-easterly direction.

On 25 August, the SMM observed two fresh craters 5-10m from a “DPR” checkpoint at the western entrance to Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove) and approximately 100m from residential buildings. The SMM assessed the craters as caused by an automatic-grenade-launcher round fired from a north-westerly direction. On the same day the SMM observed a crater in the garden of a house in Pikuzy. The SMM assessed the crater as caused by a 120mm mortar round fired from an unknown direction. The owner of the house (a 50-year-old woman) told the SMM that the shelling had taken place on the morning of 18 August.

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

In violation of the withdrawal lines, the SMM saw four multiple-launch rocket systems (BM-21 Grad, 122mm) near government-controlled Khlibodarivka (65km south-west of Donetsk).

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside assigned areas, the SMM observed 18 tanks (T-64) at a known training area near “LPR”-controlled Myrne (28km south-west of Luhansk). In government-controlled areas the SMM observed a self-propelled howitzer (2S7 Pion, 203mm) near Vesele (66km south-west of Donetsk), six anti-tank guns (MT12 Rapira, 100mm) near Kalynove (formerly Kalinine, 65km south-west of Donetsk) and 12 towed howitzers (2A36 Giatsint-B, 152mm) near Khlibodarivka.

The SMM observed the presence of armoured combat vehicles and a UAV in the security zone. In government-controlled areas the SMM observed an armoured personnel carrier (BRDM-2) in Komyshuvakha (68km west of Luhansk) and two previously observed IFVs (BMP-2) in Stanytsia Luhanska. In “DPR”-controlled Horlivka, the SMM observed two IFVs (BMP-1) parked on a street in a residential area. While at a Ukrainian Armed Forces position in Krymske (see above under the ceasefire violation section), the SMM heard the noise of a UAV flying overhead for approximately five minutes, before leaving the area.

In “DPR”-controlled Petrivske (41km south of Donetsk), an armed man wearing military-type clothes, told the SMM that he was a “volunteer” from the Russian Federation city of Chelyabinsk and that he had come to “serve” with the “DPR” in January 2016. He had an orange and black V-shaped patch on his arm.

The SMM monitored the situation of civilians travelling across the contact line at Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. The SMM observed the presence of an unexploded 82mm mortar round 1m off the asphalt road approximately 120m north of the “LPR” position just north of the bridge. Approximately 150m south of the southernmost Ukrainian Armed Forces position, the SMM observed an unexploded anti-tank rocket also just 1m off of the asphalt road. The SMM informed the JCCC. In government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska the SMM found approximately 45 empty cartridges (30mm) on a street in a residential area. The SMM continued to note the poor condition of wooden ramps over broken sections of the bridge and also noted the frail condition of the hand rails. The SMM observed numerous pedestrians carrying heavy loads and four people in wheelchairs crossing the bridge.

The SMM monitored two border areas not controlled by the Government and one controlled by the Government. While at the border crossing point near “DPR”-controlled Novoazovsk (40km east of Mariupol) for ten minutes, the SMM observed a quiet situation with no queues in either direction. At the pedestrian border crossing point  near “LPR”-controlled Sievernyi (60km south-east of Luhansk), the SMM observed four pedestrians (three men, one woman) leaving Ukraine and five entering (three men, two women) in 35 minutes. Near government-controlled Taniushivka (137km north of Luhansk), the SMM and noted one elderly woman entering Ukraine at the border crossing point in 25 minutes.

The SMM continued to monitor the situation along the administrative boundary line between the mainland and Crimea. At the Kalanchak, Chaplynka and Chonhar crossing points (67km, 72km and 167km south-east of Kherson, respectively), as well as the Ad Peninsula (96km south-east of Kherson), the SMM observed a calm situation and relatively low levels of traffic across the line.

The SMM observed a series of public gatherings in Kyiv on 26 August. The SMM observed up to 100 people on the Maidan calling for the release of the deputy head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People from a psychiatric clinic in the Crimean peninsula. In front of the General Prosecutor’s Office the SMM observed approximately 30 men in camouflage clothing with patches of the Aidar and Donbas battalions. The men held signs with the words “Ilovaisk 2014. Two years passed, no one is held responsible.” and called for the resignation of the military prosecutor. In front of the Presidential Administration building, the SMM observed 25-30 women (25-50 years old, some with children) calling for their relatives and family members, who had allegedly served for more than a year to be demobilized.

In Odessa, the SMM observed as 30-40 male members of Azov Civil Corps and the Svoboda political party forced their way past four city guards into the city council building where a hearing was scheduled on changing the names of city streets “to honour patriots”. The space set aside for the public was already beyond capacity and a short scuffle resulted between pro-Maidan activists and city security guards. The hearing was subsequently cancelled.

*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 to 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 to the SMM’s freedom of movement constitutes a violation, and on the need for rapid response to these violations.

Denial of access:

• In the afternoon of 26 August, a civilian in “DPR”-controlled Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove) asked the SMM to conduct crater analysis on an impact site in the village. An armed man stopped the SMM when the SMM approached the site and stated that it was not safe to proceed further as the area was about to be shelled. The SMM observed two IFVs (BMP-1) parked on the street but did not hear any indications of shelling. The SMM left the village and informed the JCCC.
• On 26 August, Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel denied the SMM access to a military compound in the village of Syvaske (150km south-east of Kherson).

[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.