Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 23 May 2018

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. Small arms were again fired near an SMM patrol, near Molodizhne. The Mission followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Troitske, Svatove, Marinka, Kruta Balka and Zaitseve. It also followed up on reports of a collapsed bridge and injuries to civilians near Ivanivka, and reports of shelling near a residential area of Talakivka. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske. Its access remained restricted in all three areas and elsewhere, including near Voznesenivka at the border with the Russian Federation, at a checkpoint near Khreshchatytske, and near Ivanivka. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Teple, Kalynove, Vrubivka, Vodiane and Bohoiavlenka. It continued to monitor and facilitate the access of Voda Donbassa water company employees to the Donetsk Filtration Station to facilitate repair works and keep it operational; it heard ceasefire violations in the area, despite security guarantees. The SMM also continued to monitor and facilitate repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema and high-voltage power lines near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a public gathering.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations[1], including 640 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 200 explosions).

On the evening of 22 May, the SMM camera in Avdiivka (government-controlled, 17km north of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, an undetermined explosion, five muzzle flashes and a projectile in vertical flight, followed by totals of three undetermined explosions and 15 projectiles (ten from north to south, two from south-west to north-east and three in vertical flight), all 3-5km east-south-east.

On the evening of 22 May, the SMM camera at the Donetsk Filtration Station (15km north of Donetsk) recorded 22 projectiles and seven bursts, all from south-east to north-west, 0.5-2km south-west.

On the evening of 22 May, the SMM camera at Oktiabr mine (9km north-west of Donetsk city centre) recorded, in sequence, a projectile in flight from north to south and three undetermined explosions, all 3-8km north-east.

On the evening and night of 22-23 May, the SMM camera at the entry-exit checkpoint in Pyshchevyk (government-controlled, 25km north-east of Mariupol) recorded, in sequence, five explosions (three assessed as outgoing, two as undetermined) and six projectiles in flight from east to west, all 1-2km south-south-east.

On the evening of 22 May, while in Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard about 30 bursts and shots of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire 2-5km south-west and west; saw about 50 bursts of heavy-machine-gun tracer fire 4-6 km south-west; and heard and saw about 30 bursts of heavy-machine-gun tracer fire 4-6km south-west.

On the evening and night of 22-23 May, while in Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 42 undetermined explosions and 140 bursts of small-arms fire, all 1-4km south. During the day on 23 May, the SMM heard 66 undetermined explosions and 13 shots and bursts of small-arms fire, all 1-6km south-east and south.

On the evening of 22 May, while in Mariupol (government-controlled, 102km south of Donetsk), the SMM heard about 45 minutes of overlapping explosions assessed as at least 400 artillery rounds, at an unknown distance north-east.

During the day on 23 May, positioned in Oleksandrivka (non-government-controlled, 20km south-west of Donetsk), the SMM heard 34 explosions (32 assessed as outgoing, and two as undetermined) 3-5km west; and heard and saw an explosion assessed as an impact 1km west.

Positioned 3km south-east of Lomakyne (government-controlled, 15km north-east of Mariupol), the SMM heard 105 undetermined explosions and ten bursts of small-arms fire, all at unknown distances north-east, east and north-north-west.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 240 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (18 explosions).

During the day on 23 May, positioned near Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard 79 undetermined explosions 2-12km at directions ranging from east to south-south-east.

An SMM patrol heard shots fired near its position. On 23 May, an SMM patrol was positioned at a junction 1km south-west of Molodizhne (non-government-controlled, 63km north-west of Luhansk) when it heard three shots of small-arms fire approximately 200m north-west. The SMM could not determine the direction of the fire but assessed it as not directed at the SMM. It left the area and moved to a safe location. A member of the armed formations told the SMM that the shots had been caused by an unintentional weapon discharge.

The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Troitske, Svatove, Marinka, Kruta Balka and Zaitseve. Medical staff at a hospital in Lysychansk (government-controlled, 75km north-west of Luhansk) told the SMM that a woman (36 years old), who they said was a resident of Troitske (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk), had been admitted on the early morning of 18 May with serious injuries to her abdomen and lungs and severe blood loss, due to direct shrapnel injuries. The medical staff said the woman was conscious but breathing through a ventilator. They also added that the woman’s son (18 years old) had also been admitted to the hospital with non-critical injuries. In Troitske, three local residents told the SMM that they knew that the husband and the younger son (13 years old) of the injured woman had been killed in shelling at 15 Kuznechna Street around midnight on 17 May, when the woman and her older son had been injured. The SMM was not able to reach Troitske to assess the damage at this address due to security considerations.

At the District Hospital in Svatove (government-controlled, 125km north-west of Luhansk), on 22 May, the SMM saw a man (19 years old) with his arms and the top of his head covered with bandages. The deputy head of the hospital informed the SMM that on 20 May, the man and his father (45 years old) had been admitted to the hospital and treated for skin burns and shrapnel injuries. The chief of police in Svatove told the SMM that both men had been injured on 20 May after mishandling unexploded ordnance (UXO) that they had found and picked up in 2017 in a field near Svatove.

Medical staff at the hospital morgue in Krasnohorivka (government-controlled, 21km west of Donetsk) told the SMM on 23 May that a man (36 years old) had died on 21 May in Marinka (government-controlled, 23km south-west of Donetsk) of a gunshot wound and added that the bullet had probably exploded inside the man's body as small fragments of the bullet were found during the autopsy. A man, who introduced himself as the man’s brother, told the SMM that his brother-in-law and himself had found his brother around 16:15 on 21 May lying on the ground in the backyard of his house in Marinka (at 249 Prokofieva Street, about 2.5km west of the contact line) with a large wound on his right forearm. (See SMM Daily Report 23 May 2018).

At the neurosurgical department of the Kalinina Hospital in Donetsk city, the SMM saw two men (30-40 years old) receiving intravenous fluid in their arms. The two men told the SMM that they were journalists from the Russian Federation and that on 17 May they had been visiting positions of the armed formations near Kruta Balka (non-government-controlled, 16km north of Donetsk). They added that around 15:00 shelling had begun in the area and continued until 23:00 when they had been injured by a shell. The doctor treating them told the SMM that the two men had been hospitalized on 18 May and treated for barotrauma and a concussion resulting from a blast wave.

At the municipal morgue in Horlivka, on 20 May, the SMM saw the bodies of a woman (43 years old) with a large wound on the upper part of her right leg, and of a man (46 years old) with a large open wound and a fracture on his lower right leg. On 21 May, staff members of the Horlivka hospital no. 2 told the SMM that they had both died of shrapnel wounds on 19 May. On 23 May, a man who introduced himself as the woman’s son, told the SMM that on 19 May the woman and the man had been in the garden at 127 Polietaieva Street in the non-government-controlled part of Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk) when shelling had occurred. According to him, the man died at the scene, while his mother died later at the hospital in Horlivka.

On 21 May, a representative of a non-governmental organization told the SMM that a woman (60 years old) had been injured on 21 May due to shelling at 32 Zhuravskoho Street in the government-controlled Zhovanka neighbourhood of Zaitseve. On 23 May, a staff member of the Central Hospital in Bakhmut (government-controlled 67km north of Donetsk) told the SMM that the woman had been admitted at the hospital on 21 May with shrapnel penetration. He also said that the woman was in a post-operative moderate condition in the intensive care unit.

On 19 May, a staff member of the Hospital no. 2 in Horlivka told the SMM that a woman (86 years old), said to be a resident at 21 Molokova Street in Horlivka, had died from penetrating wounds caused by fragments on 18 May after being admitted at the hospital. On 23 May, at 21 Molokova Street the SMM saw damage to the house assessed as caused by the impact of either an artillery round or a mortar shell coming from a north-westerly direction. A neighbour at 26 Molokova Street told the SMM that shelling had occurred in the area on 18 May around 18:30.

On the southern outskirts of Ivanivka (non-government-controlled 46km south-east of Luhansk), on 22 May, the SMM followed up on reports of a collapsed bridge and injuries to civilians. The SMM observed that road H-21 between Ivanivka and Khrustalnyi (formerly Krasnyi Luch, non-government-controlled, 56km south-west of Luhansk) was blocked by a police car and sand bags, and approached the bridge by foot. The SMM saw that the bridge had collapsed and observed about 20 armed members of the armed formations present, some of whom were clearing rubble from the destroyed bridge. A woman told the SMM that her son-in-law and grandson (about 45 and 20 years old respectively) had sustained injuries after their car had fallen off the damaged bridge. The SMM spoke with three local residents (two women and a man, 35-80 years old) who told the SMM that they had heard loud sounds that they believed had been a possible explosion and collapse of the bridge, and that the two injured men had been treated by an ambulance crew from Antratsyt (non-government-controlled, 55km south-west of Luhansk) and sent home the same day. 

The SMM followed up on reports of shelling near a residential area near Talakivka (government-controlled, 17km north-east of Mariupol) on the evening of 22 May. Accompanied by a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) and a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer, it observed nine impacts assessed as caused by shelling on the eastern edge of the village near a sunflower oil refining plant currently occupied by a Ukrainian Armed Forces logistic unit and located 600m east from the nearest residential house. Inside the compound, the SMM saw 13 fresh craters 5-100m apart from each other assessed as caused by the impact of 122mm and/or 152mm artillery rounds fired from an easterly direction. The SMM saw a fresh hole (1.5m in diameter) in the south-facing roof edge of the plant’s storage building at the south-western end of the compound. It saw one of the building’s ceiling concrete pillars had collapsed, assessed as the result of an impact, and all windows inside the building were shattered. It also observed a fresh impact in the south-eastern roof edge of a one-storey building located at the south-east end of the compound and damage to four military vehicles inside the compound (two military trucks and two unknown types). A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer told the SMM that shelling had occurred in the area on the evening of 22 May.

On 22 May, in a field approximately 2km east of Romanivka (government-controlled, 41km north of Donetsk), an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted track marks assessed as caused by probable self-propelled howitzers (likely two, type undetermined) and debris on the ground indicating that weapons had been fired from this location probably in the direction of Horlivka, as suggested by track indentation on the ground. In the same location, the SMM mini-UAV spotted 11 impacts assessed as caused by 122mm artillery rounds fired from a south-easterly direction, from the direction of Shyroka Balka (non-government-controlled, 34km north-east of Donetsk).

Approximately 2.6km east of Romanivka, an SMM mini-UAV also spotted track marks assessed as caused by probable self-propelled howitzers (likely two, type undetermined) as well as debris on the ground indicating that weapons had been fired from this location previously. About 2km south-west of this location, the SMM mini-UAV spotted three impacts assessed as caused by 122mm artillery rounds.

The SMM continued to monitor the disengagement process and to pursue full access to the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk), Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) and Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 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.*

On the evening and night of 22-23 May, the SMM camera in Zolote recorded, in sequence, 12 projectiles in flight from east to west, two muzzle flashes from north to south and four projectiles from north to south, followed by totals of five projectiles (one from east to west, one from north-north-west to south-south-east and three from south to north) and two muzzle flashes, all 2-8km at directions ranging from east to south-south-west (all assessed as outside the disengagement area).

On 22 May, an SMM mini-UAV spotted about 400m of newly excavated trenches (not seen in imagery taken on 7 February 2018 near Bohdanivka (government-controlled, 41km south-west of Donetsk) and 1.7km north-east of the Petrivske disengagement area.

During the day on 23 May, while on the eastern edge of Stanytsia Luhanska, the SMM heard a single shot of small-arms fire 1km east (assessed as outside the disengagement area).

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

In violation of withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas, on 21 May an SMM mini-UAV spotted two surface-to-air missile systems (9K35 Strela-10) in a residential area of Teple (31km north of Luhansk) within 200m of a civilian house, on 22 May an SMM mini-UAV spotted a surface-to-air missile system (9K35) about 2km north-east of Teple, an SMM long-range UAV spotted two surface-to-air missile systems (9K33 Osa). On 22 May, the SMM saw three tanks (T-72) near Vrubivka (72km west of Luhansk). On 23 May, the SMM saw 12 towed howitzers (2A65 MSTA-B, 152mm) and five anti-tank guns (MT-12 Rapira, 100mm) near Vodiane (42km south-west of Donetsk) and nine self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) near Bohoiavlenka (46km south-west of Donetsk).

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites, in government-controlled areas, on 22 May an SMM mini-UAV spotted three surface-to-air missile systems (9K35) about 50m south-east of a school building in Tarasivka (43km north-west of Donetsk). On 23 May, the SMM saw 11 towed mortars (eight 2B9 Vasilek, 82mm; and three PM-38, 120mm) near Kostiantynivka (60km north of Donetsk), three tanks (T-64) and four surface-to-air missile systems (9K33) near Kasianivka (22km north of Mariupol) as well as three tanks (T-64) near Volnovakha (53km south of Donetsk).

In non-government-controlled areas, on 23 May, the SMM saw four tanks (two T-64 and two T-72) near Myrne (28km south-west of Luhansk) and ten tanks (type unknown) near Ternove (57km east 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 of Donetsk region, the SMM saw four anti-tank guns (MT-12) and noted that five towed howitzers (2A65), 12 anti-tank guns (MT-12), six towed artillery (D-30 Lyagushka, 122mm), 28 mortars (12 M-120 Molot, 120mm; 15 2B11 Sani, 120mm; a BM-37 82 mm) and three self-propelled howitzers (2S1) were again missing, and three self-propelled howitzers (2S1) were missing for the first time.

On 23 May, the SMM revisited a permanent storage site whose location was beyond the respective withdrawal lines in areas of Luhansk region outside government control and noted that a tank (T-64) was missing.

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles and anti-aircraft guns[2] in the security zone. In government-controlled areas, on 21 May an SMM mini-UAV spotted an APC (BTR-80) in a residential area of Teple within 63m of a civilian house. On 22 May, an SMM mid-range UAV spotted five IFVs (BMP variants) under camouflage near Peredilske (24km north-west of Luhansk). On the same day, an SMM mini-UAV spotted an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23-2, 23mm) and ammunition boxes near Teple, as well as an IFV (BMP-2) and an APC (MT-LB) north of Bohdanivka. On 22 May an SMM long-range UAV spotted two IFVs (BMP-2) and an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRM-1K) near Hladosove (51km north-east of Donetsk), two IFVs (BMP-1), an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRM-1K) and an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23) near Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk) and one anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23-2) near Zaitseve. On 22 May, the SMM saw four IFVs (BMP-1) and an armoured recovery vehicle (BREM-Ch) near Vrubivka, an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRDM-2) near Stanytsia Luhanska, four IFVs (BMP-1) near Popasna and an anti-aircraft-gun (ZU-23) near Romanivka.

In non-government-controlled areas, on 22 May an SMM long-range UAV spotted two APCs (MT-LB), two IFVs (BMP-1) and a man armed with a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher near Kalynove (60km west of Luhansk). On 23 May the SMM saw four APCs (BTR-80) in Luhansk city.

The SMM observed demining activities near a checkpoint near Berezove (government-controlled, 31km south-west of Donetsk). The SMM saw two Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel conducting mine and UXO clearance.

The SMM continued to monitor and facilitate the access of Voda Donbassa water company employees to the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) to facilitate repair works. On 23 May, the SMM observed that power supply to the DFS had been restored. Positioned in areas near the DFS, the SMM heard undetermined explosions as well as small-arms fire, despite explicit security guarantees (see ceasefire violation section above). On the same day, a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC informed the SMM that water supply to residents of Avdiivka had been fully restored.

The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk) and high-voltage power lines near Yuzhna-Lomuvatka (non-government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk), Almazna (non-government-controlled, 55km west of Luhansk) and Veselohorivka (non-government-controlled, 64km west of Luhansk).

The SMM visited a border area not under government control. While at a border crossing point near Marynivka (78km east of Donetsk) for about 50 minutes, the SMM saw 23 cars (seven with Ukrainian, nine with Russian Federation and one with Lithuanian licence plates, and six with “DPR” plates) and two covered cargo trucks (with Ukrainian licence plates) exiting Ukraine; and six cars (three with Ukrainian, two with Russian Federation licence plates, and one with “DPR” plates) and four pedestrians (two men and two women, 50-60 years old) entering Ukraine.

The SMM monitored a public gathering in Kyiv of about 350 people (90 per cent men, 55-70 years old) in front of the Cabinet of Ministers at 12/2 Mykhaila Hrushevskoho Street. The SMM saw some people holding orange flags with the inscription “Chernobyl Union of Ukraine” and others holding banners demanding action from politicians in support of benefits and compensation for veterans of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The SMM observed a group of 30-40 people temporarily block traffic on the street. The SMM saw 20 National Guard officers securing the area as well as two National Guard and three police buses parked nearby. The SMM observed a calm situation.

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

*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 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 (see below). 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:

• At a border crossing point near Voznesenivka (formerly Chervonopartyzansk, 65km south-east of Luhansk), an armed member of the armed formations told the SMM to leave the area.
• At a checkpoint near Khreshchatytske (formerly Krasnoarmiiske, non-government-controlled, 33km north-east of Mariupol), ten armed members of the armed formations prevented an SMM patrol from proceeding, saying that it was unsafe as a criminal had escaped and a search was ongoing in the area.
• Between Ivanivka and Khrustalnyi, while attempting to access the site of the destroyed bridge on road H-21 (see above), an armed member of the armed formations told the SMM that it could not proceed.* The SMM noted that all civilian traffic traveling in the same direction had been blocked as well. The SMM left the area.  

Related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:

• 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 no demining had taken place 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 secondary roads in the Zolote disengagement area due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC told the SMM by phone that no demining had taken place during the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC.4
• The SMM was prevented from accessing secondary roads south of the Zolote disengagement area due to the possible presence of mines and UXO. An armed formation 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.

[1] For a complete breakdown of the ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table. The SMM camera at the entry-exit checkpoint in Marinka was not operational during the reporting period.

* Please see the section at the end of this report entitled “Restrictions of SMM’s freedom of movement or other impediments to fulfilment of its mandate”.

[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.