Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 28 May 2018

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more ceasefire violations in Luhansk region compared with the previous reporting period. The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Myrnohrad, Pivdenne and Horlivka. The Mission observed damage as a result of shelling near Dokuchaievsk. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske and recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Petrivske areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Buhaivka. It continued to monitor and facilitate the access of Voda Donbassa water company employees to the Donetsk Filtration Station and repair works and demining activities in order to keep the station operational; it heard ceasefire violations in the area, despite security guarantees. The SMM continued to monitor and facilitate repairs to high-voltage power lines near Almazna, Yuzhna-Lomuvatka and Veselohorivka. In Kharkiv, the SMM monitored a gathering in front of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations[1], however more explosions (about 115), compared with the previous reporting period (about 35 explosions).

During the evening of 27 May, the SMM camera at Oktiabr mine (non-government controlled, 9km north-west of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, an undetermined explosion, a projectile in flight from west to east and 15 undetermined explosions, followed by totals of 21 undetermined explosions, six projectiles (five in vertical flight and one from east to west), two bursts assessed as heavy-machine-gun fire and an illumination flare, all 3-6km north-east.  

On the evening of 27 May, while in Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 25 undetermined explosions, seven bursts assessed as anti-aircraft gunfire and seven shots of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 2-9km north and west. Positioned the next day on the northern edge of Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km east of Donetsk), the SMM heard ten undetermined explosions and about 100 shots and bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 2-3km north-north-west.

On the evening of 27 May, while in Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard an explosion assessed as an impact of a mortar (120mm) round 2-3km south-east, 16 explosions (ten undetermined, six assessed as outgoing rounds) and 20 shots and bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 2-5km south-east.

During the evening and night of 27-28 May, the SMM camera at the entry-exit checkpoint in Maiorsk (government-controlled, 45km north-east of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, three projectiles in flight from north-west to south-east, two projectiles from south-east to north-west and one undetermined explosion followed by totals of three undetermined explosions, 22 projectiles (ten from south-east to north-west, five from south-west to north-east, three from north-west to south-east, two from west to east, one from east to west, one from south to north), nine illumination flares and three bursts assessed as anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23, 23mm) rounds, all 1-5km east and east-north-east.

Positioned in Avdiivka (government-controlled, 17km north of Donetsk) during the day on 28 May, the SMM heard ten undetermined explosions and 12 bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, 2-4km in directions ranging from north-east to south-east.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including, however fewer explosions (about 25), compared with the previous reporting period (about 35 explosions).

Positioned in Nyrkove (government-controlled, 77km west of Luhansk) during the day, the SMM heard 17 explosions assessed as outgoing and 20 bursts of small-arms fire, all 4-6km north-north-west and assessed as part of live-fire training exercise outside the security zone.

The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties. In Myrnohrad (formerly Dymytrov, government-controlled, 52km north-west of Donetsk), the SMM saw a man (55 years old) outside his apartment and saw two bandages and several small wounds on his upper body that he said were the result of an explosion on 22 May that had also killed his wife (55 years old) at their summer home at 10/16 Pivdennyi Street in Myrnohrad. He added that they were both working in the garden of their summer home when his wife found what he described as a small green-blueish package on the ground. The man said he advised his wife to throw it away and then heard a loud explosion and the blast forced him back three to four metres onto the ground. The man told the SMM that he then saw his wife moaning loudly and bleeding. He told the SMM that both himself and his wife were taken that day to the Myrnohrad Central hospital, where the wife died on 23 May. Medical staff at that hospital told the SMM that the abovementioned couple had been admitted on 22 May: the man with minor injuries to his limbs and the woman unconscious with shrapnel injuries in different parts of her body. The staff added that the woman had died in the hospital on 23 May. Local police told the SMM that a woman had died and a man was injured in line with the details shared by the injured man and the medical staff. 

At the Trauma hospital in Toretsk (formerly Dzerzhynsk, 43km north of Donetsk) on 28 May, the SMM saw a man (70 years old) with small bandages covering wounds to his torso, legs and head and a large bandage from his right arm to elbow. The man told the SMM that he lived at 28 Poltavska Street in the Chyhari area of Pivdenne (government-controlled, 40km north-east of Donetsk). According to the man, he was fixing electricity lines 10-15 m from his house when an explosion occurred as he was moving tree branches. Medical staff told the SMM that a man was admitted on 27 May with wounds to the torso, legs, arm and head from a “booby trap”, however ruled out that it could be from an unexploded ordnance or landmine. Staff at a non-governmental organization’s office in Toretsk told the SMM that on 27 May a man (about 70 years old) sustained injuries as a result of an explosion.

On 26 May, at Horlivka Children’s Hospital, medical staff told the SMM that two boys had been admitted on the evening of 25 May. Medical staff said one boy (11 years old) had sustained shrapnel injuries to his mid to lower back and left leg and the other boy (10 years old) had sustained shrapnel injuries to his jaw and had been discharged the same day. The SMM spoke on 28 May to two neighbours (male, about 50-60 years old, female 60-70 years old) of the boys who resided on Pavlika Morozova Street in the Mykytivskyi district of Horlivka. They told the SMM the boys were wounded on 25 May at an abandoned park at the end of the street where they were playing together and encountered a grenade. Both neighbours told the SMM they only saw the aftermath of the incident, and the woman said that she later saw the ten year old boy wearing bandages on his head and about six bandages across both his arms.

The SMM observed damage as a result of shelling. In Dokuchaievsk (non-government-controlled, 30km south-west of Donetsk) on 26 May, the SMM was led to 1 Druzhby Street by a member of the armed formations where it saw a fresh crater south of the gate to the house. The SMM assessed that it was caused by a mortar (82mm) round but could not determine the direction of fire. About 15m west of the gate, on the southern side of Druzhby Street, the SMM saw a second fresh crater. The Mission assessed that it was caused by a mortar (82mm) round fired from a westerly direction.

On 26 May, an SMM long-range unmanned-aerial-vehicle (UAV) spotted three fresh craters about 2km south of Styla (non-government-controlled, 34km south of Donetsk) and 4.3km from the contact line, assessed as caused by 122mm artillery rounds fired from a west-south-westerly direction. The same UAV spotted three fresh craters, assessed as caused by mortar rounds, on the south-western edge of Dokuchaievsk and about 5km from the contact line, one of which was spotted in the garden of a residential house.

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 of 26 May, the SMM camera in Zolote recorded seven airbursts and two projectiles in vertical flight, 3-8km south-south-west (all assessed as outside the disengagement area). On the evening and night of 27-28 May, the same camera recorded, in sequence, seven projectiles in flight from north to south, three projectiles in vertical flight, 18 projectiles north to south and ten projectiles north-west to south-east, all 3-9km in directions ranging from east to west-south-west (all assessed as outside the disengagement area).   

Positioned at the north-eastern edge of Katerynivka (government-controlled, 64km west of Luhansk) inside the Zolote disengagement area, the SMM observed a civilian car with black and white military licence plates and two Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel on board entering the disengagement area from the northern edge and moving in a westerly direction assessed as travelling to or from houses or positions inside the disengagement area. The same day, the SMM saw the same car inside the disengagement area, this time with three Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel on board, coming from the west moving towards the Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoint on the northern edge of the disengagement area.

On 28 May, positioned in Petrivske, the SMM heard two undetermined explosions 1-3km south (unable to assess as inside or outside the disengagement area).

Further review of imagery revealed that an explosion recorded by the SMM camera in Stanytsia Luhanska at 04:03 on 22 May 1-2km south-south-east (assessed as inside the disengagement area) had been an explosion assessed as an impact of an automatic-grenade-launcher (AGS-17) round. (See SMM Daily Report 23 May 2018.)

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 non-government-controlled areas, on 26 May an SMM long-range UAV spotted 14 towed howitzers (D-30 Lyagushka, 122mm), an anti-aircraft gun (MT-12 Rapira, 100mm) and 12 self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) near Buhaivka (37km south-west of Luhansk).

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites in government-controlled areas on 28 May, the SMM saw eight tanks (T64) being offloaded from trucks at the side of road M03 near Pidhorodne (73km north of Donetsk).

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites in non-government-controlled areas, on 26 May an SMM long-range UAV spotted: 18 tanks (eight T-72 and 10 T-64), eight self-propelled howitzers (2S1), 18 towed howitzers (12 D-30 and six 2A65 Msta-B, 152mm) and nine mortars (2B-11 Sani, 120mm) near Myrne (28km south-west of Luhansk); 32 tanks (21 T-64 and 11 T-72) near Kruhlyk (31km south-west of Luhansk); and 21 tanks (type undetermined), eight mortars (2B-11), and four surface-to-air missile systems (9K35 Strela-10) near Buhaivka. (see above weapons in violation); the same UAV also spotted 30 infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) (BMP variant) in the area.

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles and anti-aircraft guns[2]  in the security zone. In government-controlled areas, on 26 May, an SMM long-range UAV spotted an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23-2) within 100m of the main hospital in Toretsk and an IFV (BMP-variant) within 100m of the psycho-neurological hospital in the south-east area of Toretsk. The same UAV also spotted an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (MT-LB) near Toretsk; two IFVs (BMP-variant) and an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23-2) near Pivnichne (formerly Kirove, 44km north-east of Donetsk); two APCs (type undetermined) and an IFV (BMP-2) near Lobacheve (17km north-west of Luhansk); three IFVs (BMP-2) near Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk); as well as an APC (MT-LB) and two IFVs (BMP-2) near Svitlodarsk. On 28 May, the SMM saw an IFV (BMP-2) in Avdiivka.

In non-government-controlled areas, on 26 May an SMM long-range UAV spotted eight IFV (BMP-1) and an APC (MT-LB) near Dovhe (22km north-west of Luhansk); as well as two APC (type undetermined), four IFV (three BMP-1 and one undetermined type) and an anti-aircraft gun (type undetermined) near Vesela Hora (16km north of Luhansk). On 28 May, the SMM saw one IFV (BMP-2) moving in a southerly direction on road T0519 between Ukrainske (80km south of Donetsk) and Prymorske (76km south of Donetsk).

The SMM observed mine hazard signs. On the road T-1303 at the junction towards Zhovte (non-government controlled, 17km north-west of Luhansk), the SMM again saw a large mine hazard sign with a white background with “Stop Mines! Danger” written on it in Russian language and in smaller font in English. On the same day, on road T-1303 at the junction towards Dovhe, the SMM again observed a mine hazard sign with same format and content as mentioned above. Both mine hazard signs were previously seen by SMM on 9 May 2018.

The SMM continued to monitor and facilitate the access of Voda Donbassa water company employees to the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) as well as repair works to the DFS and demining activities around the station. Positioned in areas near the DFS, the SMM heard undetermined explosions as well as heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire (see ceasefire violation section above), despite explicit security guarantees.

The SMM continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to the 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 an hour, the SMM saw 19 cars (ten with Russian Federation, five with Ukrainian and one with Belarusian licence plates and three with “DPR” plates”) entering Ukraine, and 17 cars (six with Russian Federation, four with Ukrainian licence plates and seven with “DPR” plates), eight cargo trucks (six with Ukrainian licence plates and two with “DPR” plates) and two buses (both with Ukrainian licence plates) exiting Ukraine.

In Kharkiv, the SMM monitored a gathering in front of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation. The SMM observed 80 people (mixed ages and genders) holding a portrait of Oleh Sentsov and carrying two Ukrainian flags as well as posters with “Free Sentsov” and “Free Kolchenko”, written in English on them. The SMM saw about ten police and six National Guard personnel near the consulate. This was the third similar gathering in Kharkiv observed by the SMM in the month of May. Participants dispersed without incident. (See SMM Daily Report 25 May 2018.)

The SMM continued monitoring in Odessa, Kherson, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, 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 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. 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:

• Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel denied the SMM accessing a crossing point between mainland Ukraine and Crimea on the southern edge of Syvash (162km south-east of Kherson). Despite the SMM having routinely visited the position in the past three years and having obtained permission from the border guards to enter, a man identifying himself as a Ukrainian Armed Forces commander denied the SMM access.

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.5
• 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.
• The SMM did not travel across the bridge in Shchastia in a southerly direction due to the presence of mines. A member of the armed formations said there were mines on the road towards the bridge. The SMM informed the JCCC.5

[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.