Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 23 August 2018

This report is for the media and the general public.

The SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period. It heard at least 500 explosions assessed as both outgoing artillery rounds and impacts thereof 4-15km north-east of Kadiivka. The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas and it was again restricted in Zaichenko and Novoazovsk, near the border with the Russian Federation.* The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to water infrastructure in Luhansk region on both sides of the contact line, and of residential houses in Avdiivka. In Kherson, the SMM monitored an appeal court hearing on an acid attack case during which the court acquitted a suspect. In Kyiv, Lviv and Chernivtsi, the SMM monitored gatherings on the occasion of National Flag Day.

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations[1], including a similar number of explosions (about 55), compared with the previous reporting period (about 60 explosions).

On the evening and night of 22-23 August, the SMM camera at the entry-exit checkpoint in Maiorsk (government-controlled, 45km north-east of Donetsk) recorded about 110 projectiles in flight, the majority from south to north, 2-4km at directions ranging from east-north-east to east-south-east. At around 15:45 on 23 August, the camera recorded checkpoint personnel appearing to be taking cover. On the afternoon on 23 August, a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the Joint Centre for Control and Coordination (JCCC) told the SMM that the entry-exit checkpoint in Maiorsk had been closed and would also remain closed on 24 August.

During the day on 23 August, positioned 1km north-west of the railway station in Yasynuvata (non-government-controlled, 16km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM heard and saw two explosions assessed as impacts, and heard 12 undetermined explosions and about 260 shots and bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, all 1-6km at directions ranging from south-south-west to north. About 140 of the above-mentioned shots and bursts and a total of 12 minutes of uncountable overlapping shots and bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire 2-3km south were assessed as live-fire training inside the security zone, in violation of the decision of the Trilateral Contact Group of 3 March 2016 that prohibits the conduct of live-fire training in the security zone.

On the same day, positioned on the south-eastern edge of Avdiivka (government-controlled, 17km north of Donetsk), the SMM heard four undetermined explosions and about 55 bursts and shots of small-arms fire, all 1-3km south-east and south.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including at least 510 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (70 explosions).

On the morning of 23 August, while in Kadiivka (formerly Stakhanov, non-government-controlled, 50km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard at least 500 explosions assessed as both outgoing artillery rounds and impacts thereof, 4-15km east-north-east. It also heard 15 bursts of infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-2) cannon (30mm) fire 14-16km east-north-east. The SMM repeatedly engaged with the Ukrainian Armed Forces officers of the JCCC and the armed formations to facilitate a ceasefire. Despite the SMM’s dialogue facilitation, the firing lasted for about three hours.

The SMM continued to monitor 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 22 August, the SMM camera in Zolote recorded an undetermined explosion 0.5-1km south-east assessed as outside the disengagement area, as well as an undetermined explosion and about 55 projectiles in flight, all 1-5km south-east and south-south-east (unable to assess whether inside or outside the disengagement area).

During the day on 23 August, the SMM saw a man with a machine gun, assessed as a member of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, near the bridge inside the Zolote disengagement area.

On the same day, positioned near the Petrivske disengagement area and inside the Stanytsia Luhanska 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, on 22 August, an SMM mid-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted a surface-to-air missile system (9K35 Strela-10) about 1km west of Shumy (41km north-east of Donetsk).

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites in a government-controlled-area, on 23 August, the SMM saw a tank (T-80) on the western outskirts of Mariupol city (102km south of Donetsk).

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites in non-government-controlled areas, on 22 August, an SMM long-range UAV again spotted three self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) near Teple (formerly Krasnodon, 33km south-east of Luhansk) and, on 23 August, an SMM mini-UAV spotted six tanks (T-64) in a training area near Kruhlyk (31km south-west of Luhansk). The same UAV spotted 24 tanks (12 T-72 and 12 T-64), eight self-propelled howitzers (2S1), ten towed howitzers (D-30 Lyagushka, 122mm), ten mortars (2B11 Sani, 120mm) and six anti-tank guns (MT-12 Rapira, 100mm) in a training area near Myrne (28km south-west of Luhansk) (in the same area the UAV also spotted about 75 armoured combat vehicles[3]). (See also: SMM Daily Report 23 August 2018).

The SMM observed armoured combat vehicles and an anti-aircraft gun[4] in the security zone. In government-controlled-areas, on 22 August, an SMM mini-UAV spotted a combat engineering vehicle (BAT-2) near Krymske (42km north-west of Luhansk).

In non-government-controlled areas, on 22 August, an SMM long-range UAV spotted an armoured recovery vehicle (BREM-1) in a compound in southern parts of Luhansk city and an IFV (BMP variant) near Kalynove (60km west of Luhansk). On 23 August, the SMM saw an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23, 23mm) mounted atop a military truck east of Betmanove (formerly Krasnyi Partyzan, 23km north-east of Donetsk) and an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (BTR-70) in Luhansk city.

On 22 August, an SMM mid-range UAV spotted an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRDM-2) west of Shumy as well as an APC (BTR variant) and an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRDM-2) north of Shumy (see also: SMM Daily Report 23 August 2018).

The SMM observed fresh craters. On 22 August, an SMM mid-range UAV spotted about ten fresh craters, assessed to have been caused by 82mm mortar rounds, on the north-western edge of Maiorsk, about 150m from the nearest residential property. The same UAV also spotted about 12 fresh craters, assessed to have been caused by 82mm mortar rounds on the eastern edge of Shumy, as well as 12 fresh craters, assessed to have been caused by 82mm mortar rounds and 122mm artillery rounds, on the north-western outskirts of Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk).

The SMM observed demining-related activities. In a field on the northern edge of Nikishyne (non-government-controlled, 60km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM observed five members of the armed formations with metal detectors. In the field, the SMM saw that one object was marked as unexploded ordnance (UXO).

The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station, including through monitoring adherence to the ceasefire. Positioned in areas near the station, the SMM recorded ceasefire violations, despite explicit security guarantees (see the table below).

The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk), water channel junction in Stanytsia Luhanska as well as the installation of a new segment of a water pipeline near Pervomaisk (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk). The Mission also facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to residential houses in Avdiivka.

In Luhansk city, the SMM saw a convoy of 11 vehicles with Russian Federation licence plates, including seven covered cargo trucks (two dark blue, one black, one metallic and the remainder white) with “Humanitarian aid from the Russian Federation” in Cyrillic written on them, two technical support trucks, one minibus and one car driving into a compound at 1 Rudnieva Street. The convoy was followed by ten cars with “LPR” plates. At the compound’s gate, the Mission saw two armed members of the armed formations and, inside the compound, it saw ten pallets (1x1m) of blue boxes being unloaded from the trucks by two men in civilian clothing and carried into a warehouse.

The SMM followed up on reports of the detained Mekhanik Pogodin tanker moored in a port in the south-western outskirts of Kherson city. (See SMM Daily Report 20 August 2018.) At dock no. 4 of the oil terminal on Marii Fortus Street, the SMM saw that the tanker remained moored and that the area was secured by armed Ukrainian State Border Guard Service personnel. A man who introduced himself as the captain of the tanker, together with three male crew members, told the SMM that their vessel had been held at the dock since 10 August 2018.

Also in Kherson, the SMM monitored an appeal court hearing against a pre-trial detention order of one of the suspects in an acid attack on a city council official (see also: SMM Daily Report 7 August 2018). The court ruled to rescind the order on pre-trial detention and acquitted the suspect of the charges pressed under Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

On 23 August, the SMM monitored gatherings on the occasion of National Flag Day. In Kyiv, the Mission monitored a flag hoisting ceremony in front of the Kyiv City Hall (36 Khreshchatyk Street) where it saw around 300 people (men and women, mixed ages). It also monitored similar events in Lviv and Chernivtsi. At all events the SMM observed a calm situation.

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

*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, 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 15 August 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 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) citing “lack of orders allowing the SMM passage”.
• At a checkpoint near Novoazovsk (non-government-controlled, 40km east of Mariupol), three members of the armed formations denied the SMM passage, saying that “an operation was ongoing in the area”.

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.[5]
• 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.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.

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

[5] 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.