Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 24 June 2018

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region, however more in Luhansk region between the evenings of 22 and 23 June compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 23 and 24 June, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours. The Mission followed up on reports of civilian casualties in Yasynuvata and Dokuchaievsk. It observed fresh damage caused by shelling in a residential area of Pikuzy. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded an explosion inside the Stanytsia Luhanska and three projectiles inside the Zolote disengagement areas. The Mission’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere, including Nova Marivka. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Novoaidar. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station. In Lviv, the SMM followed up on media reports of a physical attack against members of the Roma community in the city.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations,[1] including 66 explosions, between the evenings of 22 and 23 June, compared with the previous reporting period (about 110 explosions). Between the evenings of 23 and 24 June, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations and more explosions (280) compared with the previous 24 hours.

On the evening and night of 22-23 June, the SMM camera at the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) (15km north of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, two projectiles in flight from west-north-west to east-south-east and three projectiles from east-south-east to west-north-west, followed by totals of eight explosions (six undetermined, one assessed as impact and one as outgoing), about 40 projectiles (the majority from east-south-east to west-north-west), four bursts and a muzzle flash, all 0.3-3km at directions ranging from south-east to south-west as well as four projectiles in flight from east-north-east to west-south-west 100m-500m south-south-west. On the evening and night of 23-24 June, the same camera recorded an undetermined explosion and six projectiles in flight from east to west, followed by 13 explosions (11 undetermined and two assessed as impacts), 67 projectiles (the majority from east to west) and two illumination flares, all 0.2km-3km south.   

On the evening and night of 22-23 June, the SMM camera at the entry-exit checkpoint in Maiorsk (government-controlled, 45km north-east of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, four undetermined explosions and four projectiles in flight (two from south to north and two from north to south), followed by totals of 12 undetermined explosions, 225 projectiles (the majority from south to north), 65 bursts, two muzzle flashes and three illumination flares, all 2-4km north-east, east-north-east and east. On the evening and night of 23-24 June, the same camera recorded four projectiles in flight from south to north followed by totals of 18 undetermined explosions, 125 projectiles (the majority from south to north), 13 muzzle flashes, two illumination flares and about 55 bursts, all 2-4km east.   

On the evening of 23 June, while in Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard about 120 undetermined explosions and about 215 shots and bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 4-6km south-west and west. 

On the evening and night of 22-23 June, while in Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard about 30 undetermined explosions and about 135 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire 4-5km south-east and south. On 23 June, the SMM heard 23 undetermined explosions and about 215 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 4-5km south-east.

During the day on 24 June, positioned 2.5km south-east of Lomakyne (government-controlled, 15km north-east of Mariupol), the SMM heard 62 explosions (42 undetermined, ten assessed as impacts and ten as outgoing) 1-5km in easterly directions, as well as 12 undetermined explosions and three shots of small-arms fire at unknown distances east-south-east.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations between the evenings of 22 and 23 June, including about 14 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (five explosions). Between the evenings of 23 and 24 June, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 100 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours.

On the evening of 23 June, while in Sievierodonetsk (government-controlled, 74km north-west of Luhansk), the SMM heard about 90 undetermined explosions 25-35km south.

The SMM followed up on reports of civilian casualties. At the railway hospital in Yasynuvata (non-government-controlled, 16km north-east of Donetsk), medical staff told the SMM that a woman (33 years old) had been admitted on 12 June with haematoma and scratches on her back and chest from a bullet that had likely ricocheted off a surface before hitting her. On a previous visit to her home, the woman had told the SMM that a bullet had hit her in the upper side of her back while she had been outside her house in Yasynuvata with her children and a neighbour.

In Dokuchaievsk (non-government-controlled, 30km south-west of Donetsk), on 24 June, a woman (76 years old) who had her head covered in bandages, told the SMM that the previous day she had been walking from her house on Lenina Street to a bus stop on 35 Tsentralna Street when shelling had begun, forcing her to take cover next to the wall of a nearby building. The woman said she had then felt something hit her and realized she was bleeding from the back of her head. Shortly after, the woman said she had been given first aid in a shop and was taken to Dokuchaievsk city hospital. Medical staff at the hospital told the SMM that the woman had been brought to the hospital with a shrapnel wound to her head and released the same day. 

On 23 June, the SMM observed fresh shelling impacts in a residential area of Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, non-government-controlled, 23km north-east of Mariupol). In the Kirpoty area on the eastern edge of Pikuzy, a location where the SMM had observed fresh damage from shelling in recent weeks (see SMM Daily Report 18 June 2018), the SMM saw two fresh craters in the ground about 40-45m east of a house, both assessed to be caused by artillery rounds of an undetermined calibre fired from a westerly direction. The SMM saw fresh damage to trees and a severed high-voltage power line 5-10m from the craters. Three local residents told the SMM that the area had been damaged from shelling on the evening and night of 22-23 June and they said that the towns of Pikuzy, Zaichenko (non-government-controlled, 93km south of Donetsk) and Uzhivka (formerly Leninske, non-government-controlled, 24km north-east of Mariupol) had been left without electricity due to it.  

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 22 June, an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) again spotted an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23, 23mm) in the garden of a house 400m inside the south-western edge of the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area.

On the night of 22-23 June, while on the eastern edge of Stanytsia Luhanska, the SMM heard three undetermined explosions 3km south (unable to assess whether inside or outside the disengagement area). On 24 June, positioned just north of the Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoint and north of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, the SMM heard an explosion 0.8-1km south-west (assessed as inside the disengagement area).

On 24 June, while at a checkpoint of the armed formations south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge inside the disengagement area, the SMM saw a mini-UAV flying from north to south over the checkpoint at an altitude of 50 to 70m.

On the evening and night of 22-23 June, the SMM camera in Zolote recorded 11 undetermined explosions 5-15 km at directions ranging from east-north-east to south-south-east (all assessed as outside the disengagement area). On the evening of 23 June, the same camera recorded ten undetermined explosions, three projectiles in flight from north to south, nine tracer rounds and eight bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 3-10km east (all assessed as outside the disengagement area), as well as three projectiles (two from south-west to north-east and one from east to west) 3-5km south-east (all assessed as inside the disengagement area).

On 23 June, the SMM saw a soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces inside the Zolote disengagement area, driving towards Katerynivka (government-controlled, 64km west of Luhansk). Later the same day, the SMM saw five soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (three walking who were armed, two driving in a civilian van) inside the disengagement area on a road towards Katerynivka.

On 1 June, the SMM camera in Petrivske recorded an explosion and 12 tracer rounds from east-south-east to west-north-west, all 0.5km-1.5km south-west and west-north-west, all assessed as inside 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 a government-controlled area, on 23 June, the SMM saw two self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) loaded on two flatbed trucks travelling west on road T1306, about 7km west of Novoaidar (49km north-west of Luhansk).

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites in government-controlled areas, on 23 June, the SMM saw a stationary tank (T-72) mounted on a military flatbed truck and two surface-to-air-missile systems (9K33 Osa) east of Sievierodonetsk, two self-propelled howitzers (2S1) in Sievierodonetsk, two surface-to-air-missile systems (9K33) moving west on road T-1306 near Novookhtyrka (55km north-west of Luhansk), six surface-to-air missile systems (9K35 Strela-10) moving west on road H-21 about 6km south-east of Novoaidar, nine tanks (T-72) and three self-propelled howitzers (2S1) at the train station in Rubizhne (84km north-west of Luhansk) and two surface-to-air missile systems (9K35) moving east near Smolianynove (61km north-west of Luhansk). On 24 June, the SMM saw nine self-propelled howitzers (eight 2S1 and one 2S3 Akatsiya, 152mm) and five tanks (T-72) at the train station in Rubizhne and two tanks (T-64) on flatbed trailers in the southern outskirts of Volnovakha (53km south of Donetsk).

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles, anti-aircraft guns[2], new trenches and other indications of military-type presence in the security zone. In government-controlled areas on 23 June, the SMM saw two infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) (BMP-1) and an armoured recovery vehicle (BREM) on the eastern outskirts of Popasna (69km west of Luhansk). On 22 June, an SMM mini-UAV again spotted an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23) 400m inside the south-western edge of the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area (see above).

In non-government-controlled areas, on 22 June, an SMM mini-UAV spotted 1.5km of new trenches and 13 empty revetted positions (not visible in imagery from 29 April 2018) near Novohryhorivka (33km west of Luhansk). The next day, the SMM saw an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (type undetermined) stationary near Smile (31km north-west of Luhansk) and an anti-aircraft gun (type undetermined) near Makiivka (12km north-east of Donetsk). On 24 June, the SMM saw an APC (type undetermined) stationary near a group of people wearing military-style clothing in the southern outskirts of Donetsk city. On 24 June, the SMM saw a mini-UAV flying from north to south over a checkpoint of the armed formations south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge (see above).

The SMM observed unexploded ordnance (UXO) and mine hazard signs. On 23 June, about 200m from the southern entrance to Nova Marivka (non-government-controlled, 64km south of Donetsk), the SMM observed for the first time a tailfin protruding from the ground in the middle of the road and another non-imbedded projectile on the east side of the road, both assessed as from 82mm mortar rounds, as well as a small, red-coloured, square-shaped sign on the side of the road with white lettering indicating “mines” in Russian.* The same day, on a road about 2.6km east of Novo Marivka, the SMM saw for the first time a tree lying across the road, as well as two tailfins protruding from the ground on both sides of the tree, assessed as from 82mm mortar rounds. At this location the SMM also saw a mine hazard sign with identical description as above attached to the tree.* On 24 June, the SMM observed for the first time a red mine hazard sign with “Stop Mines” in Russian, hanging from a rope across an access road 1km south-east of Lyman (non-government-controlled, 12km north-west of Luhansk).

The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the DFS as well as demining activities around the station, including through monitoring adherence to the ceasefire on 23 and 24 June. Positioned in areas near the DFS, the SMM heard ceasefire violations, despite explicit security guarantees (see above and table below for ceasefire violations). The SMM also continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk), and monitored repairs on 22 and 23 June to recently damaged high-voltage power lines in the Kirpoty area on the eastern edge of Pikuzy (see above).

In Lviv on 22 June, at the Memorial of Glory to Heroes Fallen in the Second World War on Pasichna Street, the SMM followed up on media reports of the vandalism of several tombs on 21 June. The SMM saw that yellow tridents and other markings had been spray-painted on three tombs in the memorial; it also saw a man attempting to remove the paint from one of the tombs. A police spokesperson told the SMM that an investigation was ongoing.    

On 24 June, the SMM followed up on media reports of a physical attack on members of the Roma community on 23 June in Lviv city. In a forested area along Truskavetska Street in the southern area of Lviv, the SMM saw three makeshift shelters that appeared to have been abandoned and ten police officers. A police spokesperson told the SMM that a man (24 years old) had been killed and four other members of the Roma community living in a temporary settlement near Truskavetska Street (two men 19 years old, a woman 30 years old, and a boy ten years old) had been injured after being attacked by a group of men (16-20 years old), seven of whom were arrested. The SMM will continue to follow up.  

The SMM continued monitoring in Kherson, Odessa, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro and 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 (see SMM Daily Report 19 June 2018). 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:

• On 23 June, about 200m from the southern entrance to Nova Marivka, the SMM was unable to continue on the road to reach the village due to visible UXO, as well as mine hazard signs seen for the first time.
• On 23 June, on a road about 2.6km east of Nova Marivka, the SMM could not enter the village due to a tree lying across the road and two visible UXO near the tree, as well as mine hazard signs seen for the first time.
• On 24 June, at a security post 3km south of Syvash (162km south-east of Kherson), two members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces prevented the SMM from entering and demanded the SMM leave the area, even after the SMM explained its mandate. The SMM has been granted access to this area regularly, however this was the second restriction in the past month at the same location (see SMM Daily Report 29 May 2018).

Regular restrictions related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:

• On 23 and 24 June, 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 on both occasions.[3]
• On 23 and 24 June, 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 on both occasions.4
• On 23 and 24 June, 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.

[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.