Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 29 July 2018

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region between the evenings of 27 and 28 July compared with the previous reporting period. Between the evenings of 28 and 29 July, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region compared with the previous 24 hours, and no ceasefire violations in Luhansk region. Small arms were fired 600m from the SMM near Chornukhyne, assessed as directed at an SMM unmanned aerial vehicle. The SMM observed fresh damage caused by shelling in a residential area of Mala Yurivka. The Mission continued monitoring the disengagement areas near Stanytsia Luhanska, Zolote and Petrivske; it recorded ceasefire violations near the Petrivske and Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement areas. Its access remained restricted in all three areas, as well as near Bezimenne, Zaichenko and Horlivka. The SMM observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines near Ocheretyne. The Mission 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. In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a procession of up to 70,000 people organized by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate to commemorate the adoption of Christianity.

In Donetsk region, between the evenings of 27 and 28 July, the SMM recorded a similar number of ceasefire violations[1], including, however, more explosions (about 160), compared with the previous reporting period (about 105 explosions). Between the evenings of 28 and 29 July, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including 15 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours.

On the evening and night of 27-28 July, the SMM camera at the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) (15km north of Donetsk) recorded, in sequence, a projectile in flight from west to east, 13 projectiles from east to west and an undetermined explosion, followed by a total of 32 explosions (one assessed as an impact and the remainder undetermined), two airbursts, 84 projectiles (the majority from east to west) and four muzzle flashes, all 0.5-1.5km south. On the evening and night of 28-29 July, the same camera recorded, in sequence, a muzzle flash, seven projectiles in flight from east to west and a projectile from north-west to south-east, followed by a total of three undetermined explosions, 50 projectiles (the majority from east to west) and an illumination flare in vertical flight, all 0.5-2.5km south.

On the evening and night of 27-28 July, the SMM camera 1km south-west of the entry-exit checkpoint in Pyshchevyk (government-controlled, 25km north-east of Mariupol) recorded 63 projectiles in flight (the majority from south-south-west to north-north-east), all 2-3km east. During the day on 28 July, positioned 1km north-north-west of Pyshchevyk for about ten minutes, the SMM heard 15 undetermined explosions and 65 shots and bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 2-3km north-east.

On the evening and night of 27-28 July, while in Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard two explosions assessed as impacts of mortar rounds 2-3km south, as well as six undetermined explosions and about 240 shots and bursts of infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-2) cannon (30mm), heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 1-4km south-east, south-south-east and south.

During the day on 28 July, positioned about 6km north-west of Donetsk city centre (non-government-controlled) for about 40 minutes, the SMM heard 19 undetermined explosions and about 40 minutes of uncountable and overlapping shots and bursts of small-arms fire, all 3-5km north-north-east.

During the day on 28 July, positioned on the south-western edge of Avdiivka (government-controlled, 17km north Donetsk), the SMM heard about 60 explosions assessed as impacts of automatic grenade-launcher rounds, six explosions assessed as outgoing (and their subsequent impacts), two undetermined explosions and 11 bursts of heavy-machine-gun fire, all 2-4km east-north-east.

In Luhansk region, between the evenings of 27 and 28 July, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including one explosion, compared with the previous reporting period (ten explosions). Between the evenings of 28 and 29 July, the SMM recorded no ceasefire violations.

On 28 July, positioned about 3km east of Chornukhyne (non-government-controlled, 64km south-west of Luhansk) while flying a mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the SMM heard four shots of small-arms fire 600m south-east of its position, assessed as directed at the UAV.* The SMM landed the UAV and safely left the area.

The SMM followed up on reports that a man died after a hand grenade he was handling exploded. On 28 July, on Liubovi Shevtsovoi Street in Yasenivskyi (non-government-controlled, 46km south of Luhansk), a woman (aged 25) told the SMM that at around 20:00 on 25 July, an intoxicated man (aged 30) had sat in the garden of her property and begun threatening her and her children (boy and girl, aged three and five) with a hand grenade. She said that as she had been leaving the property with her children, she had heard an explosion and, when she returned, she saw that the man had died. At the property, the SMM saw shrapnel damage to the outer wall and to a metal fence in the garden. At another property on Liubovi Shevtsovoi Street, the mother of the deceased man (aged 60-70) and his cousin (male, aged 30-40) told the SMM that the deceased had been involved in military-type activities.

The SMM observed fresh damage caused by shelling in a residential area of Mala Yurivka (non-government-controlled, 34km south-west of Luhansk). On the main street, the SMM saw a single-storey house with two shattered east-facing windows, a collapsed roof and several fragments of wooden beams 3m west of the house. The SMM assessed the damage as caused by a tank round; however, it was unable to assess the direction of fire. A resident of the village (woman, aged 70) told the SMM that the damage had occurred on 19 July and that nobody had been injured. The house is located in an area between training areas near Buhaivka (non-government-controlled, 37km south-west of Luhansk) and Myrne (non-government-controlled, 28km south-west of Luhansk), where the SMM had recently observed a total of about 40 tanks (type undetermined) (see SMM Daily Report 25 July 2018).

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 28 July, positioned about 1km north of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge (15km north-east of Luhansk), the SMM heard an undetermined explosion 2-3km south-east (assessed as outside the disengagement area). On the same day, 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. At the same location, the SMM had previously seen a tailfin of the same type (see SMM Daily Report 20 July 2018).

On 28 July, positioned about 3km north of Petrivske for about half an hour, the SMM heard about 150 shots of IFV (BMP-2) cannon fire and four bursts of heavy-machine gun fire, all 2-5km south-south-east (all assessed as outside the disengagement area). While at the same location, the SMM saw two men in military-style clothing approximately 800m west of its position, one of whom was armed. On 29 July, positioned about 2km north of Petrivske, the SMM heard six undetermined explosions and three shots of small-arms fire, all 2-5km south-east (all assessed as outside the disengagement area).

On 27 July, an SMM long-range UAV spotted a previously observed trench inside the Petrivske disengagement area, about 5m from its eastern edge and 500m from its northern edge, as well as a previously observed trench outside the disengagement area, about 100m north of its northern edge.

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 27 July, an SMM long-range UAV spotted a self-propelled howitzer (2S3 Akatsiya, 152mm) 200m south-east of a residential area of Ocheretyne (31km north-west of Donetsk). (See SMM Daily Report 7 July 2018.)

On 28 July, the SMM revisited a permanent storage site in an area of Luhansk region outside government control whose location corresponded with the withdrawal lines and noted that a tank (T-64) remained missing.

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles, an anti-aircraft weapon[3] and other indications of military-type presence in the security zone. In government-controlled areas, on 27 July, an SMM long-range UAV spotted an IFV (BMP variant) near Nevelske (18km north-west of Donetsk), five IFVs (three BMP-2 and two BMP variants) near Novotroitske (36km south-west of Donetsk), eight IFVs (six BMP-2 and two BMP variants) near Mykolaivka (40km south of Donetsk), two IFVs (a BMP-2 and a BMP variant) near Novohryhorivka (55km south of Donetsk), four IFVs (three BMP-2 and a BMP variant) near Starohnativka (51km south of Donetsk) and 14 IFVs (13 BMP-2 and a BMP variant) near Bohdanivka (41km south-west of Donetsk). On the same day, an SMM mini-UAV spotted an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRDM-2) in the front yard of an abandoned house in Orikhove-Donetske (44km north-west of Luhansk). On 28 July, the SMM saw an APC (BTR-70) near Raihorodka (34km north-west of Luhansk), two IFVs (BMP-1) near Novohnativka (40km south of Donetsk) and four IFVs (BMP-2) near Starohnativka. On 29 July, the SMM saw a self-propelled anti-aircraft system (ZU-23-4 Shilka, 23mm) near Novotroitske.

In non-government-controlled areas, on 27 July, an SMM long-range UAV spotted an IFV (BMP variant) and trenches near Styla (34km south of Donetsk), an IFV (BMP-1) and a trench near Bila Kamianka (51km south of Donetsk) and two armoured personnel carriers (APC) (a BTR-70 and an MT-LB) near Bezimenne (30km east of Mariupol).

The SMM observed demining activities. On 28 July, on the eastern outskirts of Mariupol (government-controlled, 102km south of Donetsk), from a distance, the SMM observed the controlled detonation of 14 mines by sappers near a Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoint at the junction of roads E58 and T0519. Ukrainian Armed Forces officers of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) were also present.

The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the DFS, including through monitoring adherence to the ceasefire. Positioned in areas near the DFS on 28 and 29 July, the SMM heard ceasefire violations, despite explicit security guarantees (see above and the table below).

The SMM also continued to facilitate and monitor repairs and maintenance works, on 29 July, to the phenol sludge reservoir near Zalizne (formerly Artemove, government-controlled, 42km north-east of Donetsk).

On 28 July, the SMM monitored a railway station near Oleksandrivsk (non-government-controlled, 10km west of Luhansk) and saw a train with about 40 wagons carrying coal travelling from east to west.

In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a procession of up to 70,000 people (mixed gender and age) organized by the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate to commemorate the adoption of Christianity by the Kyivan Rus (see SMM Daily Report 28 July 2018). The SMM assessed that about 5,000 police officers secured the route and did not observe any incidents.

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

*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 27 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:

-   On 28 and 29 July, at a checkpoint 800m north of Zaichenko (non-government-controlled, 26km north-east of Mariupol), two armed members of the armed formations again stopped the SMM and denied it passage westward to Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, non-government-controlled, 23km north-east of Mariupol) and southward to Sakhanka (non-government-controlled, 24km north-east of Mariupol), citing “security reasons”. (See SMM Daily Report 28 July 2018.)

• On 28 July, at a checkpoint 2.5km west of Bezimenne, three armed members of the armed formations denied the SMM passage, claiming that “it was for SMM’s safety due to ongoing operations in Sakhanka”.    
• On 28 July, at a checkpoint near Horlivka (nongovernment-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk), a member of the armed formations told the SMM that it could only monitor 50m away from the checkpoint.

Regular restrictions related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:

• On 28 and 29 July, 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 telephone that no demining had taken place during the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC both times.[4]
• On 28 and 29 July, 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 telephone that no demining had taken place during the previous 24 hours. The SMM did not consider it safe to proceed and informed the JCCC both times.5
• On 28 and 29 July, 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.

[1] For a complete breakdown of the ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table.* 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] 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; thus, 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.