Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 15 September 2017

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas and heard ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area. Its access remained restricted in the three disengagement areas and elsewhere.* The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Shchastia. The Mission saw for the first time mine hazard signs near Olenivka. It facilitated and monitored repairs and maintenance of essential infrastructure near Shchastia and Zolote. The SMM continued to monitor the situation of civilians at checkpoints and heard about long delays in Horlivka. The Mission monitored a gathering in Odessa.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations,[1] including fewer explosions (about 40), compared with the previous reporting period (220 explosions).

On the evening and night of 14-15 September, the SMM camera in Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol) recorded, in sequence, two tracer rounds in flight from west to east, nine tracer rounds from east to west, one tracer round from west to east, three undetermined explosions, one tracer round from east to west, two tracer rounds from west to east, one illumination flare in vertical flight, one undetermined explosion, one tracer round from west to east, one tracer round from east to west, one illumination flare in vertical flight, five tracer rounds from west to east, one illumination flare in vertical flight and one undetermined explosion, all at unknown distances north.

On the evening and night of 14-15 September, while in government-controlled Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard about 60 bursts of small-arms fire 2-5km south-west.

On 15 September, the SMM camera in government-controlled Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk) recorded three explosions assessed as impacts 4-5km east-south-east. On the same day, positioned in Avdiivka, the SMM heard two undetermined explosions 4-6km south.

Positioned at the railway station in “DPR”-controlled Donetsk city (6km north-west of Donetsk city centre), in under two hours, the SMM heard six undetermined explosions 2-3km south-south-west and two undetermined explosions 3-5km north-north-east.

Positioned at the railway station in “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata (16km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard two undetermined explosions 2-3km west-south-west. Positioned on the south-western edge of Yasynuvata, the SMM heard one shot of small-arms fire 1-2km west.

Positioned 4km north-west of “DPR”-controlled Yenakiieve (41km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 23 undetermined explosions 3-5km west.

While in “DPR”-controlled Horlivka (39km north-east of Donetsk) the SMM heard about 120 shots of small-arms fire 2-3km west.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 40 explosions near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, compared with the previous reporting period (23 explosions).

The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement process and to pursue full access to the disengagement areas near 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 it was able to partially monitor them.*

Positioned on the southern-edge of government-controlled Zolote-4 (60km north-west of Luhansk), while preparing to fly an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the SMM heard three shots of small-arms fire 100m south-south-west of its position, assessed as inside the disengagement area, and left the area. 

While on the eastern edge of government-controlled Stanytsia Luhanska, on the night of 14-15 September, the SMM heard one undetermined explosion, one explosion assessed as outgoing artillery fire, 37 explosions assessed as outgoing automatic-grenade-launcher fire and about 100 shots of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 3-5km south and south east, all assessed as outside the disengagement area.

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

In violation of the respective withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas, the SMM saw four multiple launch rocket systems (BM-21 Grad, 122mm) travelling north on road H21 between Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk) and Voitove (33km north-west of Luhansk).

Beyond the withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites, in a government-controlled area, the SMM saw seven mortars (six 2B11 Sani, 120mm and one BM-37, 82mm) near Bohoiavlenka (46km south-west of Donetsk).

The SMM observed weapons that could not be verified as withdrawn, as their storage did not comply with the criteria set out in the 16 October 2015 notification from the SMM to the signatories of the Package of Measures on effective monitoring and verification of the withdrawal of heavy weapons. In government-controlled areas beyond the respective withdrawal lines, the SMM noted three anti-tank guns (MT-12 Rapira, 100mm), six towed howitzers (D30, 122mm) and 17 mortars (12 M120-15 Molot, 120mm and five 2B11) were again missing, and four mortars (2B11) were missing for the first time.

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles (ACV) and an anti-aircraft gun[2], and other indications of military-type presence in the security zone. In government-controlled areas, on 14 September, an SMM mini-UAV spotted a stationary ACV (BTR-variant) under camouflage netting, as well as newly dug trenches and bunkers observed for the first time, near Komyshuvakha (68km west of Luhansk) and, on 15 September, the SMM saw an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-2) travelling north on road H21 between Shchastia and Voitove.

In areas outside of government control, on 14 September, an SMM mini-UAV spotted seven stationary armoured personnel carriers (APC) (one BTR-60 and six MTLB-variant) and over 40 military-type trucks, including one mounted with an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23, 23mm), near Kalmiuske (formerly Komsomolske, 42km south-east of Donetsk), in a zone within which deployment of heavy armaments and military equipment is proscribed according to Point 5 of the Memorandum of 19 September 2014.

Positioned near an “LPR” checkpoint 3.5km south-east of Shchastia the SMM saw for the first time four anti-tank mines in the rear of a stationary truck with 15 armed persons standing nearby, as well as a crane and military-type truck carrying two large concrete slabs travelling north.

The SMM saw five unarmed persons setting up fences and barbed wire along a 30-40m stretch of the west-side of road H20, as well as for the first time mine hazard signs (white skulls on a red background with the word “mines” written in Russian) near a “DPR” checkpoint near Olenivka (23km south-west of Donetsk).

The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs and maintenance, co-ordinated by the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC), to water pipes in Zolote and the thermal power plant in Shchastia.

The SMM continued to monitor the situation of civilians at checkpoints. At a checkpoint in “DPR”-controlled Horlivka (39km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM spoke with two women (in their fifties), a man (in his forties), another two women (in their fifties) who were accompanying an elderly man with disabilities in a priority lane, and a man and a woman (in their thirties) with their two young children, who all separately told the SMM that they had been waiting at the checkpoint between four and five hours to travel to government-controlled areas.

At an entry-exit checkpoint near government-controlled Maiorsk (45km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM saw some elderly people and people with disabilities queueing in a priority lane.

On 14 September, the SMM monitored a gathering in Odessa of about 50 people (men and women, aged 20-55). People gathered in front of the headquarters of the regional division of the national police on Pushkinska Street and then moved further down the street to the regional prosecutor’s office. Representatives from a civil society organization told the SMM that they had organized the event and that they were protesting against what they said was inactivity and poor performance of law enforcement bodies in Odessa. The deputy head of the Odessa branch of the political party “People’s Movement of Ukraine” (a woman in her forties) told the SMM that she had been physically assaulted on 11 September and that the gathering was also in response to that incident. (See SMM Daily Report 14 September 2017.) The SMM observed 40 police in riot gear nearby. The protest ended peacefully.  

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

*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, unexploded ordnance (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.

Denial of access:

Related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:

• The SMM was prevented from accessing areas in 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 activities had taken place during the previous 24 hours in the area. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.
• The possible presence of mines and UXO prevented the SMM from accessing secondary roads north of the Zolote disengagement area. At a checkpoint on the northern edge of the area a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC told the SMM that no demining had taken place over the previous 24 hours. The SMM informed the JCCC.

-          The possible presence of mines and UXO prevented the SMM from accessing secondary roads south of the Zolote disengagement area. Armed “LPR” members positioned on the southern side of the disengagement area told the SMM that no demining activity had been conducted in the area. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.

• The SMM could not travel across the bridge in Shchastia due to the presence of mines. A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC told the SMM that mines on the road south of the bridge were still present. 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. During this reporting period the SMM camera at the Oktiabr mine (Donetsk) remained non-operational.

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