Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 2 July 2018

The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous reporting period. The Mission observed bullet holes in windows of residential buildings in Dokuchaievsk. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it heard small-arms fire near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas. The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Lobacheve, Donetskyi and Bohdanivka. The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station. The Mission observed a gathering in Kyiv and the vandalism of a monument in Odessa. In Berehove, the SMM followed up on the killing of a member of the Roma community.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations[1], including about 70 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 190 explosions).

During the day on 2 July, positioned near the railway station in Yasynuvata (non-government-controlled, 16km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 12 explosions (six assessed as impacts, the remainder undetermined) and four bursts and shots of small-arms fire, all 1-5km at directions ranging from west to south-west, as well as 15 explosions (five assessed as impacts, the remainder undetermined) 6-10km north and two shots of small-arms fire 2-3km north-north-east.

During the evening and night of 1-2 July, the SMM camera at the entry-exit checkpoint in Maiorsk (government-controlled, 45km north-east of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, three projectiles in flight, an undetermined explosion, two projectiles, an undetermined explosion, 43 projectiles and an undetermined explosion, all 1-4km east-north-east. Approximately two-thirds of the projectiles recorded were in flight from north-north-west to south-south-east, the remainder were recorded flying south-south-east to north-north-west.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including 31 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 50 explosions). On 2 July, positioned 2.5km north-east of Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard 30 undetermined explosions 8-10km south-south-west.

At the SMM camera 1km south-west of Shyrokyne (20km east of Mariupol), the SMM observed an electrical cable had been connected to the camera’s fuse box and that said cable led to a Ukrainian Armed Forces compound about 150m north-east of the camera site. The SMM addressed the issue to a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC).

The SMM observed bullet holes in the windows of residential buildings in Dokuchaievsk (non-government controlled, 30km south-west of Donetsk). At a second-story apartment in a five-storey building at 86 Lenina Street, the SMM observed three holes penetrating two south-facing windows; it assessed the holes to have been caused by small-arms fire from a south-westerly direction. The owner of the apartment (woman in her seventies) told the SMM that she had heard the sound of glass breaking at around 19:30 on 1 July and then seen a hole through her window. At a fifth-floor apartment in a five-story building at 87 Tsentralna Street, the SMM observed a hole through the glass of a west-north-west-facing window. The owner of the apartment (woman in her eighties) said that she had heard the sound of breaking glass around 18:45 on 1 July and subsequently seen a hole through her window.                     

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.*

During the day on 2 July, positioned in the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM heard 170 shots of small-arms fire 6-7km west and five shots 2-3km west-south-west, all assessed as outside the disengagement area. The same day, positioned in the Zolote disengagement area, the SMM observed a calm situation.

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, an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted a tank (T-64) near Lobacheve (17km north-west of Luhansk) on 30 June.

In violation of withdrawal lines near non-government-controlled Donetskyi (49km west of Luhansk), on 30 June, an SMM mini-UAV spotted a 120mm mortar. The following day, an SMM mini-UAV spotted a probable self-propelled howitzer (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) near Bohdanivka (44km west of Luhansk).

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles, an anti-aircraft weapon[2] and other indications of military-type presence in the security zone. In government-controlled areas, on 30 June, an SMM long-range UAV spotted four infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) (BMP variants) near Lopaskyne (23km north-west of Luhansk). On 2 July, the SMM saw an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRDM-2) near Heivka (27km north-west of Luhansk).

In non-government-controlled areas, on 30 June, an SMM long-range UAV spotted an IFV (BMP-1) near Nadarivka (64km west of Luhansk) and two IFVs (a BMP-1 and a BMP-2) near Znamianka (36km north-west of Luhansk). On 1 July, an SMM mini-UAV spotted an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23, 23mm) near Bohdanivka and ten IFVs (BMP variants), five armoured personnel carriers (two BTR-70 and three MT-LB) and an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRDM-2) in a compound on the southern outskirts of Donetsk city.

On 30 June, an SMM mini-UAV spotted two houses with destroyed roofs, one of which was connected to trenches, 15 craters assessed as caused by mortar (82mm and 120mm) rounds and an impact assessed as caused by an artillery round near civilian houses, all on the western edge of Donetskyi (none of which were visible in imagery from 7 June 2018).

The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the DFS, including through monitoring adherence to the ceasefire. On 2 July, positioned in areas near the DFS, the SMM heard ceasefire violations, despite explicit security guarantees (see above and table below for details). The SMM also continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk), to pipelines in Novotoshkivske (government-controlled, 53km west of Luhansk) and Popasna and to a water channel and fibre optic cable near Stanytsia Luhanska.

In Donetsk city, the SMM followed up on media reports of a raid by the armed formations on a Muslim cultural centre at 2 Berestovska Street in Kalininskyi district. The SMM found seals reading “sealed on 21 June by the investigation department of the ‘Ministry of State Security’” in Russian affixed to the centre’s doors.

On 1 July, in Kyiv, the SMM saw approximately 300 people gathered on Independence Square, many holding banners with the slogans “Free Sentsov” and “Save Oleg Sentsov.” The SMM saw four police officers present. Some of the participants continued the gathering outside the French and German Embassies, where the SMM saw about 30 and 50 National Guard and police officers, respectively.

At Kulykove Pole in Odessa, on 2 July, the SMM saw that red paint had recently been sprayed over two inscriptions on a monument (“To the fighters who died for the power of the Soviets in Odessa” and “From the labourers of Odessa 1960” – both in Ukrainian language). (For a similar incident at the same location, see SMM Daily 19 May 2018.)

In Kharkiv, the SMM monitored a gathering of about 20 members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community cordoned off by the police. A group of about 30 people had gathered in parallel, calling loudly that they “will raid Roma”. Scuffles occurred between members of the two groups and the police intervened. The event ended without further incident.  

On 2 July, in Berehove (174km south-west of Ivano-Frankivsk) in Zakarpattia region, the SMM followed up on reports of the killing of another member of the Roma community (see SMM Daily Report 25 June 2018). Medical staff at a hospital in Berehove told the SMM that a woman (aged 30) had died on 1 July from wounds to her neck but refused to provide the SMM with additional information, citing an ongoing police investigation. The local police department told the SMM that the woman with severe wounds to her neck had been found unconscious near a railroad yard in Berehove and died while being transported to the hospital. The local police also said that it had opened a criminal investigation under Article 115 of the Criminal Code (murder).

The SMM continued monitoring in Kherson, Lviv, 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, 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. 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 2 July 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:

Regular restrictions 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.

Other Impediments

• Staff at a hospital in Horlivka (nongovernment-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk) refused to provide the SMM information regarding a civilian casualty, stating that the SMM should request “permission” for such information from the armed formations.
• Staff at a hospital in Alchevsk (nongovernment-controlled, 40km south west of Luhansk) refused to provide the SMM information, stating that the SMM should request “permission” for information from the armed formations.
• Staff at a hospital in Brianka (nongovernment-controlled, 46km south-west of Luhansk) refused to provide the SMM information, stating that the SMM should request “permission” for information from the armed formations.
• Staff at a hospital in Kadiivka (formerly Stakhanov, nongovernment-controlled, 55km west of Luhansk) refused to provide the SMM information, stating that the SMM should request “permission” for information from the armed formations.
• Staff at a hospital in Holubivka (formerly Kirovsk, nongovernment-controlled, 51km west of Luhansk) refused to provide the SMM information, stating that the SMM should request “permission” for information from the armed formations.

[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 prescribed 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.