Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 20 November 2018

This report is for the media and the general public.

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• The Mission followed up on reports of a grenade explosion in Khartsyzk in which a woman was injured and a man died.
• The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area.
• The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure near Artema and Holmivskyi, as well as repairs to houses in Marinka and Krasnohorivka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station.
• Access for the SMM remained restricted in all three disengagement areas, near Syvash and near Novoazovsk, an area close to the border with the Russian Federation.*
• The Mission monitored protests in Kyiv, Lviv and Chernivtsi.

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including about 60 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 120 explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded in areas south and south-west of the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS), south-east of Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk) and east of Lomakyne (government-controlled, 15km north-east of Mariupol).

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including 34 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 200 explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded in areas west of Kadiivka (formerly Stakhanov, non-government-controlled, 50km west of Luhansk) and south-west of Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk).

Reports of a woman injured and a man killed in a grenade explosion

The SMM followed up on reports of a grenade explosion in Khartsyzk (non-government-controlled, 26km east of Donetsk) on 6 November in which a man died and a woman suffered injuries. On 20 November, in Novoamvrosiivske (non-government-controlled, 56km east of Donetsk), the SMM saw a woman (in her thirties) with two scars: one on the right side of her chest and the other one on the left temple. The woman said that she had been injured in an accidental explosion of a grenade brought home to their apartment in Khartsyzk on 6 November by her partner (male, in his thirties). Medical staff at a municipal hospital in Khartsyzk told the SMM that a woman with shrapnel wounds had been admitted on 6 November and the body of a man had been brought to the hospital’s morgue.

Disengagement areas[2]

During the day on 20 November, positioned on the southern edge of the disengagement area near Zolote (58km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard eight shots of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 1-2km north-north-west, assessed as inside the disengagement area.

On the same day, positioned inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM observed a calm situation.

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.  

Beyond the withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites

Government-controlled areas:

19 November:

• an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted a self-propelled howitzer (2S1 Gvozdika,122mm) north-west of Smolianynove (61km north-west of Luhansk).

20 November:

• a surface-to-air missile system (9K33 Osa) near Selidove (41km north-west of Donetsk).

Indications of military and military-type presence in the security zone[3]

Government-controlled areas:

20 November:

• an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (BTR-70) near Makarove (19km north-east of Luhansk);
• an APC (BTR-80) near Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk);
• an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-1) and an armoured recovery vehicle (undetermined variant) south of Romanivka (41km north of Donetsk).

Non-government-controlled areas:

17 November:

• an SMM mini-UAV spotted three IFVs (BMP-2) near Vesela Hora (16km north of Luhansk).

Presence of mines

On 19 November, an SMM mid-range UAV spotted 31 newly laid anti-tank mines (TM-62) laid out in three rows in a field about 1.7km north-east of Vodiane (government-controlled, 94km south of Donetsk), near 11 previously observed anti-tank mines (TM-62).

 

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 (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk), to power lines and a water tower near Holmivskyi (non-government-controlled, 49km north-east of Donetsk) and repairs to 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.

Public gatherings in Kyiv, Lviv and Chernivtsi

The SMM monitored two public gatherings in Kyiv. In front of the Cabinet of Ministers building at 12/2 Mykhaila Hrushevskoho Street, the Mission saw about 70 people (all women, aged 40-50) carrying banners with messages demanding the dismissal of a senior government official, flags of Ukraine and various Ukrainian cities, as well as banners reading “Women for Peace”. On the site, the SMM saw 40 law enforcement officers and observed a peaceful situation.

In front of the Parliament building at 5 Mykhaila Hrushevskoho Street, the Mission again saw a protest related to import taxes on vehicles. It observed about 300 cars with foreign licence plates blocking off a section of Mykhaila Hrushevskoho Street to traffic, about 300 people (mostly men, mixed ages) holding yellow and blue flags of “Auto Euro Power” and posters criticising import taxes on vehicles, as well as a burned car on a parked flat-bed truck. At the site, the SMM saw about 400 law enforcement officers, many of them in riot gear, and observed no incidents. The Mission also monitored two protests related to import taxes on vehicles in Lviv on 19 and 20 November and a protest in Chernivtsi on 20 November where it also observed a peaceful situation.

In Lviv, the SMM also monitored a public gathering outside the city hall building at 1 Rynok Square. The Mission saw about 50 persons wearing white face masks and chanting “Glory to Ukraine”, some of them holding lit smoke flares and carrying banners with messages denouncing corruption in the local government (all in Ukrainian language). After the public gathering ended, when the participants removed their masks, the SMM saw they were all young males.

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

*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 north of Novoazovsk (non-government-controlled, 40km east of Mariupol), two armed members of the armed formations again prevented the SMM from proceeding towards Novoazovsk, citing ongoing “special operations”.

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.

 

[1] For a complete breakdown of ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table. The SMM cameras in Hranitne, Krasnohorivka and Shyrokyne were not operational during the reporting period.

* Please see the section at the end of this report entitled “Restrictions of the SMM’s freedom of movement or other impediments to fulfilment of its mandate”.

[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] The hardware mentioned in this section is not proscribed by the provisions of the Minsk agreements on the withdrawal of weapons.