Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 4 January 2018

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous reporting period and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. The SMM followed up on reports about a man injured by the explosion of a hand grenade in Svatove. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it observed a calm situation in all three areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. The SMM visited a border area not under government control. The Mission monitored the administrative boundary line between Kherson region and Crimea.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations[1], including fewer explosions (about 70), compared with the previous reporting period (about 130 explosions).

On the evening and night of 3-4 January, the SMM camera at the Donetsk Filtration Station (15km north of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, an undetermined explosion, 21 projectiles in flight from south-east to north-west, a projectile from east to west and a projectile from west to east, followed by a total of four undetermined explosions, 44 projectiles (21 from east to west and 23 from west to east) and an illumination flare in vertical flight, all 0.5-1.5km south. During the day on 4 January, the camera recorded ten projectiles from west to east and a projectile from east to west, all 0.5-1.5km south.

On the evening and night of 3 January, while in “DPR”-controlled Horlivka (39km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard about 50 bursts and five minutes of uncountable and overlapping bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire 3-12km south and south-west. While at the same location during the day on 4 January, the SMM heard 22 undetermined explosions, about 130 bursts and shots of small-arms and heavy-machine-gun fire and three bursts of infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-2) cannon (30mm) fire, all 3-5km south-west.  

During the day on 4 January, positioned at the railway station in “DPR”-controlled Yasynuvata (16km north-east of Donetsk) for almost three hours, the SMM heard 24 undetermined explosions and about 20 shots and bursts of small-arms and heavy-machine-gun fire, all 3-5km at directions ranging from west-south-west to north.

The same day, positioned on the south-western edge of Yasynuvata for about two hours, the SMM heard six undetermined explosions and five bursts of small-arms and heavy-machine-gun fire 2-5km south and north-west.

On the evening of 3 January, while in government-controlled Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard six undetermined explosions and about 70 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire 4-6km south-east. The following day, while at the same location, the SMM heard four undetermined explosions and about 50 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 4-6km south-east.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded no ceasefire violations. In the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded about 30 ceasefire violations.

The SMM followed up on reports about a man injured by the explosion of a hand grenade in government-controlled Svatove (125km north-west of Luhansk). On 2 January, medical staff at a hospital in Svatove told the SMM that a 32-year-old man had been admitted on 30 December with shrapnel injuries to his hand, arms and left leg, assessed as caused by the explosion of a hand grenade. Medical staff added that the man had been discharged on the same day. On 4 January, the injured man told the SMM that a man had thrown a hand grenade in his direction. Police in Svatove told the SMM that an investigation into the incident was ongoing and that a man (aged 62) had been taken into custody.

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 the Mission was able to partially monitor them.*

During the day on 4 January, positioned near all three disengagement areas, the SMM observed calm situations.

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

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites, in a non-government-controlled area, the SMM saw a stationary tank (type undetermined) near Kruhlyk (31km south-west of Luhansk).

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles and an anti-aircraft weapon[2] in the security zone. In government-controlled areas, the SMM saw five stationary IFVs (two BMP-1, two BMP-2, and one BMP-variant) and a stationary self-propelled anti-aircraft system (ZSU-23-4 Shilka, 23mm) near Popasna (69km west of Luhansk), and an armoured personnel carrier (BTR-70) being towed by a recovery truck heading west near Orikhove-Donetske (44km north-west of Luhansk). In a non-government-controlled area, the SMM saw two stationary IFVs (BMP-2) near Smile (31km north-west of Luhansk).

The SMM observed remnants of ammunition and unexploded ordnance (UXO). At “DPR”-controlled Oktiabr mine (8km north-west of Donetsk), the SMM saw, for the first time, the tailfin of a mortar (82mm) round and, once again, an unexploded shell (120mm or 122mm) about 20-30m from the base of the tower where the SMM camera is installed.

The SMM visited a border area not under government control. At a border crossing point near Dovzhanske (84km south-east of Luhansk), during about an hour, the SMM saw 26 cars (one with “DPR” plates), two buses and 26 pedestrians (19 men and seven women, aged 25-50) exiting Ukraine. The SMM saw 17 cars, a bus and ten pedestrians (three men and six women, aged 30-55 and one child) entering Ukraine.

The SMM monitored the administrative boundary line between Kherson region and Crimea. On 3 January, the SMM visited a crossing point near Chonhar (167km south-east of Kherson) and noted a calm situation.

The SMM continued monitoring in Odessa, 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, 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, citing orders to do so. (See, for example, SMM Daily Report 2 December 2017.) 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:

Related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:

• The SMM was prevented from accessing secondary roads south of the Zolote disengagement area due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. An “LPR” 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. 
• The SMM was prevented from accessing secondary roads in the Zolote disengagement area due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. At a checkpoint on the northern side of the Zolote disengagement area, a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC told the SMM that he had no information regarding demining in the area during the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.[3]
• 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 he had no information regarding demining activities over the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.[3]
• The SMM did not travel across the bridge in government-controlled Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk) due to the presence of mines. A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC said there were mines on the road south of the bridge. The SMM informed the JCCC.[3]

Conditional access:

• Armed “DPR” members stopped the SMM on two occasions at a checkpoint on road H-15 east of “DPR”-controlled Kreminets (16km south-west of Donetsk). They allowed the SMM to proceed only after checking the interior of an SMM trailer on both occasions.

Other impediments:

• In “LPR”-controlled Luhansk city, medical staff at a morgue and a woman who introduced herself as an “LPR” press secretary, separately, told the SMM that they could not provide information to the SMM without the permission of senior “LPR” members.
• In “DPR”-controlled Bezimenne (30km east of Mariupol), an apparently intoxicated unarmed “DPR” member with a beer bottle encircled SMM patrol members and touched one of them on the shoulder. Another “DPR” member immediately told him to leave the area; the latter complied.    

[1] Please 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. Two SMM cameras continue to be tested until the end of January 2018.

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

[3] 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.