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

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period. Machine gun rounds were fired in the direction of an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle in Khrustalnyi. The SMM observed damage to civilian properties in a residential area of Dokuchaievsk. The SMM continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas. Its access remained restricted in all three areas, as well as in areas of Donetsk region outside government control near Zaichenko and Bezimenne. The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Khrustalnyi. The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring the security situation around the station, as well as repairs and maintenance works to critical civilian infrastructure near Zalizne, Nelipivka, Stanytsia Luhanska, Bolotene, Artema and Novotoshkivske.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations[1], including 255 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 150 explosions).

On the evening of 18 July, while in Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 43 undetermined explosions and 55 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 2-8km west and north-west.

On the evening and night of 18-19 July, the SMM camera at the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) (15km north of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, a projectile in flight from east to west and a projectile in vertical flight (both assessed as 30mm cannon rounds), an undetermined explosion, a projectile from east to west and two projectiles from west to east, followed by totals of 22 undetermined explosions and 71 projectiles in flight (63 from east to west, seven from west to east and one in vertical flight), all 1-7km south.

On the evening and night of 18-19 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 from south-east to north-west and 13 projectiles from north-west to south-east, followed by totals of 119 projectiles (47 from north-west to south-east, 42 from south-east to north-west, 21 from north to south, eight from east to west and one in vertical flight), all 2.5-6km east.

On the evening and night of 18-19 July, the SMM camera at the entry-exit checkpoint in Pyshchevyk (government-controlled, 25km north-east of Mariupol) recorded, in sequence, three undetermined explosions, 41 projectiles in flight from west to east and an illumination flare in vertical flight, followed by totals of 57 undetermined explosions, 239 projectiles in flight (96 from west to east, 53 from east to west, 49 from south to north and 41 in vertical flight), all 1-7km south.

On the evening and night of 18-19 July, while in Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 16 undetermined explosions and about 170 bursts and shots of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 2-6km south-east, south and south-west.

During the day of 19 July, positioned 1.9km north-west of Debaltseve (non-government-controlled, 58km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard 12 undetermined explosions 5-7km at directions ranging from south-west to north-north-west.

Positioned in Dokuchaievsk (non-government-controlled, 30km south-west of Donetsk), the SMM heard about 30 undetermined explosions 0.5-7km south-west and west-south-west.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including, however, more explosions (11), compared with the previous reporting period (four explosions).

The SMM observed damage to civilian properties in residential areas of Dokuchaievsk. At 9 Vatutina Street, it saw a bullet hole in a south-west facing window of an apartment on the first floor of a five-storey building. A resident of the building (woman in her seventies) told the SMM that the apartment was uninhabited and that the window had been damaged on the afternoon of 18 July. (See also SMM Daily Report 13 June 2018).

At 93 Tsentralna Street, the SMM saw that the windowpanes of a south-west facing window of an apartment on the fourth floor of a five-storey building were missing and that the window was covered with pieces of plywood from the inside. A resident of the building (man in his thirties) told the SMM that the apartment was uninhabited and that the window had been damaged on the afternoon of 18 July.

Machine gun rounds were fired in the direction of an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). On the evening of 18 July, an SMM long-range UAV spotted a PK machine gun (7.62mm) with one person behind it and three people around in the yard of a factory in Khrustalnyi (formerly Krasnyi Luch, non-government-controlled, 56km south-west of Luhansk) and recorded the machine gun opening fire towards the UAV. The UAV was not damaged.

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)[2], 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 18 July, the SMM camera in Zolote recorded an undetermined explosion and nine projectiles in flight (eight from north-west to south-east and one from north-north- east to south-south-west), all 2-6km east-south-east, south-east and south (all assessed as outside the disengagement area).

On 19 July, inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM again saw a tailfin of a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG-7) in a field about 2.5m east of a road approximately 100m south of the Ukrainian Armed Forces forward position about 300m north of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge (15km north-east of Luhansk). At the same location, on 15 July, the SMM had seen a tailfin of the same type. On 17 July, it had noted that the tailfin was no longer present. (See SMM Daily Report 18 July 2018).

During the day on 19 July, positioned 2km north of Petrivske, the SMM heard four undetermined explosions and about 20 shots and bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 3-4km south-east (all 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 a non-government-controlled area, on 18 July, an SMM long-range UAV spotted 17 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) (BM-21 Grad, 122mm) in and near Khrustalnyi.

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites in non-government-controlled areas, on 18 July, an SMM long-range UAV spotted a self-propelled howitzer (2S1), 14 towed howitzers (2A65 Msta-B, 152mm) and two tanks (one T-80 and one undetermined) near Khrustalnyi. On 19 July, the SMM saw five towed howitzers (D-30 Lyagushka, 122mm) and a self-propelled howitzer (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) inside a training area near Myrne (28km south-west of Luhansk).

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 areas of Donetsk region outside government control, the SMM saw two towed howitzers (D-30) present and noted that 11 MLRS (BM-21) and eight anti-tank guns (MT-12 Rapira, 100mm) were again missing.

The SMM revisited a heavy weapons permanent storage site in an area of Luhansk region outside government control whose location corresponded with the withdrawal lines and noted that seven towed howitzers (D-30) remained missing.

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles[3] in the security zone. In government-controlled areas, on 18 July, an SMM long-range UAV spotted an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP variant) near Travneve (51km north-east of Donetsk). On the same day, the SMM saw an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (BTR-70) in Karlivka (government-controlled, 25km north-west of Donetsk). On 19 July, it saw an IFV (BMP-1) near Hranitne (government-controlled, 60km south of Donetsk), two armoured reconnaissance vehicles (BRDM-2) and two APCs (a BTR-60 and a BTR variant) near Zolote-2/Karbonit (62km west of Luhansk) and an IFV (BMP variant) near Zolote-4/Rodina.

The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the DFS, including through monitoring adherence to the ceasefire. Positioned in areas near the DFS, the SMM heard ceasefire violations, despite explicit security guarantees (see above and the table below).

The SMM also continued to facilitate and monitor repairs to high-voltage power lines in Nelipivka (government-controlled, 40km north-east of Donetsk), the phenol sludge reservoir near Zalizne (government-controlled, 42km north-east of Donetsk), a water channel junction in Stanytsia Luhanska, water intake station boreholes in Bolotene (government-controlled, 22km north-east of Luhansk), water pipelines near Novotoshkivske (government-controlled, 53km west of Luhansk), the Petrivske water pumping station near Artema (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk), as well as to a pond and a pipeline between Zalizne and Nelipivka.

The SMM visited a border area outside government control. While at a border crossing point near Uspenka (73km south-east of Donetsk) for 40 minutes, the SMM saw 11 cars (five with Ukrainian and two with Russian Federation licence plates, and four with “DPR” plates) enter Ukraine.

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

*Restrictions of the 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 (for example, see SMM Daily Report 19 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:

• At a checkpoint north of Zaichenko (nongovernment-controlled, 26km north-east of Mariupol), three armed members of the armed formations stopped the SMM and again denied it passage westward to Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, non-government-controlled, 26km north-east of Mariupol) and southward to Sakhanka (non-government-controlled, 24km north-east of Mariupol) citing “security reasons”. (See, for example, SMM Daily Report 18 July 2018 and SMM Daily Report 19 July 2018).
• At a checkpoint on road E58 north-west of Bezimenne (non-government-controlled, 30km east of Mariupol), armed members of the armed formations again stopped the SMM and denied it passage, citing “an ongoing anti-terrorist operation in the area”. (See, for example, SMM Daily Report 18 July 2018 and SMM Daily Report 19 July 2018).

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 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 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. A member of the armed formations 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:

• While conducting a longrange UAV flight near Khrustalnyi, the SMM recorded several rounds from a PK machine gun assessed as fired in the direction of the UAV. The UAV was not damaged.

[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.

[2] Due to presence of mines, including those on a road between Bohdanivka and Petrivske, the SMM’s access to its camera in Petrivske remained limited; therefore, the review of the camera footage may take place days later.

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

[4] 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.