Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 19 November 2018
This report is for the media and the general public.
Summary
- Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
- The SMM followed up on reports of two civilians injured by shooting and shelling Zolote-5/Mykhailivka.
- The SMM observed heavy weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas of Donetsk region.
- The Mission recorded ceasefire violations near all three disengagement areas and observed armoured combat vehicles in the Zolote disengagement area.
- The SMM facilitated and monitored repairs to essential infrastructure near Artema and Zolote-4/Rodina, as well as repairs to houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station.
- Access for the SMM remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, near Zaichenko as well as Izvaryne, an area close to the border with the Russian Federation.*
Ceasefire violations[1]
In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 120 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours (about 110 explosions). The majority of the ceasefire violations were recorded in areas near the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS), Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk) and south-west of Lebedynske (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Mariupol).
In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 200 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours (about 70 explosions). The majority of the ceasefire violations were recorded in areas near Kadiivka (formerly Stakhanov, non-government-controlled, 50km west of Luhansk), Holubivka (formerly Kirovsk, non-government-controlled, 51km west of Luhansk) and Molodizhne (non-government-controlled, 63km north-west of Luhansk).
Two civilians injured by shooting and shelling
On 17 November, at a hospital in Pervomaisk (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk), medical staff told the SMM that on 14 November, a man (aged 29) had been admitted with a large cut on the left side of his head near the ear. Over the phone, the victim told the SMM that around 14:00 on 14 November, he had been inside a truck near Zolote-5/Mykhailivka (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk) when a bullet had hit the driver’s side window and shattered it and another window in the cab of the truck, cutting the left side of his head near the ear. Two representatives of an electricity company separately told the Mission that on 14 November the injured man had been driving a truck as part of repair works to a power substation near Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, and one of the representatives had then taken the injured man to the hospital in Pervomaisk following the incident.
On 15 November, at the same hospital in Pervomaisk, medical staff told the SMM that a man (62 years old) from Zolote-5/Mykhailivka had been admitted on the evening of 12 November with injuries on the left side of his chest consistent with shrapnel wounds and that he was recovering in the hospital. Medical staff told the SMM that they could not meet with the victim without “permission” from a “ministry” of the armed formations (see SMM Daily 16 November 2018).* On 15 November, in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, three residents (women, 50, 65 and 71 years old) separately told the SMM that there had been shelling on 12 November and that a man had been injured as a result. On 19 November, in the same settlement, the daughter (39 years old) of the victim told the SMM that her father had sustained a chest injury on 12 November between 17:00-18:00 while in the courtyard of his house at 20 Pervomaiska Street and that her father was still in the hospital in Pervomaisk.
Disengagement areas[2]
During the evening of 18 November, while on the eastern edge of Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk), the SMM heard three shots of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 3-5km south, all assessed as outside the disengagement area.
During the same evening, the SMM camera in Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) recorded five projectiles in flight (two from south-south-west to north-north-east, one from north-north-west to south-south-east and one from south-south-east to north-north-west), all at an assessed range of 2-5km east-south-east. The following day, the same camera recorded two muzzle flashes and two projectiles in flight (from north to south), all at an assessed range of 2-4km east-north-east. Positioned in Zolote-2/Karbonit (government-controlled, 62km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard two undetermined explosions assessed at about 5km east and 5km south-west. All ceasefire violations were assessed to be outside the disengagement area.
On 18 November, inside the Zolote disengagement area, an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted an armoured combat vehicle (ACV) (type undetermined) about 150m south of the area’s northern edge and about 1.2km west of its eastern edge, near previously observed positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as an ACV (type undetermined) about 120m south of the railway tracks and about 2km west of its eastern edge and an ACV (type undetermined) north of the railway tracks about 1.2km east of the area’s western edge, both near previously observed positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
On the same day, an SMM long-range UAV also spotted an ACV (type undetermined) about 130m north of the Zolote disengagement area’s southern edge and about 800m west of its eastern edge, and an ACV (type undetermined) east of road T1316, about 800m north of its southern edge. Both ACVs were assessed as belonging to the armed formations.
Positioned about 2km north of Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), the SMM heard five bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire at an assessed range of 2-3km south-south-east, all assessed as outside of the disengagement area.[3]
Withdrawal of weapons
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 the withdrawal lines
Government-controlled areas:
- November:
- An SMM mini-UAV spotted three surface-to-air-missile systems (9K35 Strela-10) near Vynohradne (101km south of Donetsk)
- An SMM long-range UAV spotted:
- a self-propelled howitzer (2S3 Akatsiya, 152mm) and three surface-to-air-missile systems (9K35) near Vershyna (63km north-east of Donetsk);
- a surface-to-air missile system (9K35) near Myronivka (64km north-east of Donetsk); and
- a surface-to-air missile system (9K35) near Ozarianivka (52km north of Donetsk).
Beyond the withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites
Government-controlled areas:
- November:
- An SMM long-range UAV spotted two surface-to-air missile systems:
- a 9K33 Osa near Verkhnokamianka (84km north-west of Luhansk); and
- a 9K35 near Spirne (96km north of Donetsk).
Indications of military and military-type presence in the security zone[4]
Government-controlled areas:
17 November:
- An SMM long-range UAV spotted:
- an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (MT-LB) and an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23-2, 23mm) mounted in the rear of a military truck near Vershyna;
- three infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) (BMP-1) near Myronivka;
- two probable IFVs (BMP-1) near Troitske (69km west of Luhansk);
- three APCs (BTR variants), an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRDM-2) and an ACV (type undetermined) near Malynove (19km north-east of Luhansk);
- two APCs (BTR-70) and an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23-2, 23mm) mounted in the rear of a military truck near Artema (26km north of Luhansk); and
- a self-propelled anti-aircraft system (ZSU-23-4 Shilka, 23mm) near Ozarianivka.
18 November:
- An SMM long-range UAV spotted:
- four ACVs (type undetermined) east of Bila Hora (54km north of Donetsk);
- two IFVs (BMP-2) near Zaitseve (62km north-east of Donetsk);
- two ACVs (type undetermined) near Vershyna; and
- an ACV (type undetermined) near Krymske (42km north-west of Luhansk).
Non-government-controlled areas:
17 November:
- An SMM mini-UAV spotted an IFV (BMP-1) and an APC (BTR variant) near Pryvitne (11km north of Luhansk).
18 November:
- An SMM long-range UAV spotted:
- four IFVs (BMP-1) near Pakhalivka (40km west of Luhansk); and
- an ACV (type undetermined) and a probable IFV (probable BMP variant) near Sokilnyky (38km north-west of Luhansk).
SMM facilitation of repairs to civilian infrastructure
The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to the Petrivske water pumping station near Artema, to powerlines in the neighbourhood of Vilnyi, east of Zolote-4/Rodina (government-controlled, 59km west of Luhansk), and houses in Marinka (government-controlled, 23km south-west of Donetsk) and Krasnohorivka (government-controlled, 21km west of Donetsk). The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the DFS.
Border areas not under government control
While at a pedestrian border crossing point near Sievernyi (50km south-east of Luhansk) for 35 minutes, the SMM saw six people entering Ukraine and 11 people exiting Ukraine.
While at a pedestrian border crossing point near Verkhnoharasymivka (57km south-east of Luhansk) for half an hour, the SMM observed that there were no members of the armed formations operating the border crossing point in Ukraine. The SMM observed eight people exiting Ukraine and three people entering Ukraine.
While at a border crossing point near Izvaryne (52km south-east of Luhansk) for about ten minutes, the SMM observed a bus (with Ukrainian licence plates) exiting Ukraine. A member of the armed formations then told the SMM to leave the area.*
The SMM continued monitoring in Kherson, Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro, 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, 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 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 (for example, see below). 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.
Denials of access:
- At a checkpoint near Zaichenko (non-government-controlled, 26km north-east of Mariupol), two armed men in military-style clothing denied the SMM passage west to Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, non-government-controlled, 23km north-east of Mariupol) and south to Sakhanka (non-government-controlled, 24km north-east of Mariupol), saying there was “ongoing kinetic activity in the area.”
- At a border crossing point near Izvaryne, a member of the armed formations told the SMM to leave the area.
Regular restrictions related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:
The SMM continued be restricted in its access to the three disengagement areas, as well as in the ability to travel on certain roads identified by the Mission as important for effective monitoring due to the presence of mines and UXO. Positioned south of the bridge in government-controlled Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk), an armed member of the armed formations told the SMM that there had been no demining in the area, therefore the SMM did not consider it safe to proceed north.
Other impediments:
- On the evening of 18 November, an SMM long-range UAV temporarily lost its GPS signal, assessed as due to jamming,[5] while flying over areas near Trudove (government-controlled, 60km north of Luhansk), Hrechyshkyne (government-controlled, 45km north-west of Luhansk) and Baidivka (government-controlled, 75km north-west of Luhansk).
[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] Disengagement is foreseen in the Framework Decision of the Trilateral Contact Group relating to disengagement of forces and hardware of 21 September 2016.
[3] Due to the presence of mines, including on a road between Bohdanivka and Petrivske, the SMM’s access to its camera in Petrivske remains limited, and thus the SMM has not been able to access observations from the camera since 22 June 2018.
[4] The hardware mentioned in this section is not proscribed by the provisions of the Minsk agreements on the withdrawal of weapons.
[5] The interference could have originated from anywhere within a radius of several kilometres of the UAV’s position.