Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 7 December 2018

This report is for the media and the general public.

Summary

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line.
• The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to water infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, as well as to enable repair works to damaged houses in Marinka. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station.
• Restrictions to the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted in Izvaryne.*
• In Kyiv, the SMM monitored a peaceful protest during which it heard participants expressing views critical of the Russian Federation and calling for banning Russian-owned businesses in Ukraine.

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including 32 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 130 explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations, including the majority of explosions, were recorded in the Avdiivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport area.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations (no explosions), compared with the previous reporting period (ten explosions).

Disengagement areas[2]

Positioned in areas close to the disengagement area near Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) and inside the disengagement area near Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk), 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.

In violation of the withdrawal lines

Government-controlled areas

7 December

• A surface-to-air missile system (9K33 Osa) in Lebedynske (16km north-east of Mariupol)

Non-government-controlled areas

7 December

• Two self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) and four towed howitzers (D-30 Lyagushka, 122mm) near Bile (22km west of Luhansk)

Beyond the withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites

Government-controlled areas

7 December

• Two surface-to-air missile systems (9K33) near Kasianivka (22km north of Mariupol)

A permanent storage site beyond the respective withdrawal lines in a non-government-controlled area of Luhansk region

7 December

• Five tanks (four T-64 and one T-72) and two self-propelled howitzers (2S1) remained missing. The presence of some weapons could not be verified.*

Indications of military presence in the security zone[3]

Government-controlled areas

7 December

• An armoured personnel carrier (BTR-70) near Popasna (69km west of Luhansk)

Unexploded ordnance and new mine hazard signs

In a residential area in the Kyivskyi district of Donetsk city, on Avdiivska Street, the SMM saw for the first time four pieces of unexploded ordnance (UXO) embedded in the ground, assessed as the motor sections of Grad missiles.

The Mission saw for the first time an improvised mine hazard sign, consisting of a wooden pole with a piece of red cloth attached on top, on Stratonavtiv Street in the Kyivskyi district of Donetsk city. It also saw for the first time three new mine hazard signs (“Stop Mines” written in Russian on paper) in a residential area of Spartak (non-government-controlled, 9km north of Donetsk) on the side of a road leading to Donetsk airport.

SMM facilitation of repairs to civilian infrastructure

The Mission 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) and to water pipelines in Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk), as well as to damaged houses in Marinka (government-controlled, 23km south-west of Donetsk). It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station.

 

Border areas not under government control

At a border crossing point near Izvaryne (52km south-east of Luhansk), a member of the armed formations told the SMM to leave the area after five minutes. During its presence, the SMM saw no traffic crossing the border in either direction.*

While at a border crossing point near Verkhnoharasymivka (57km south-east of Luhansk) for about 25 minutes, the Mission saw 11 people (eight men, three women, mixed ages) exiting Ukraine.

While at a border crossing point near Sievernyi (50km south-east of Luhansk) for about 45 minutes, the SMM saw 39 people (24 men and 14 women, mixed ages, and a boy, about 5 years old) entering Ukraine and three women (mixed ages) exiting Ukraine.

Protest in Kyiv

The SMM observed a peaceful protest organized by National Corps and Natsionalny Druzhyny in Kyiv. On Independence Square, the Mission saw about 650 people (mostly men, aged 20-30), about one-third of them dressed in camouflage clothing with Natsionalny Druzhyny insignia, who later started walking in columns on Instytutska Street towards the Presidential Administration building at 11 Bankova Street. There the SMM heard some of the protestors expressing views critical of the Russian Federation and calling for banning Russian-owned businesses in Ukraine. It saw about 100 law enforcement officers present.

Other observations

In Uzhhorod (182km west of Ivano-Frankivsk), the SMM observed 15 children (boys and girls, aged 8-15) participating in a flash mob on the occasion of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence.

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

*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, 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.

Denial of access:

• 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 sides continued to deny the SMM full access to the three disengagement areas, as well as the ability to travel certain roads previously identified as important for effective monitoring by the Mission and for civilians’ movement, through failure to conduct comprehensive clearance of mines and UXO.
• North of the bridge in Shchastia (government-controlled, 20km north of Luhansk), a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC told the SMM that no demining activities had taken place in the past 24 hours and that the road south of the bridge was still mined.

Conditional access:

• At an armed formations’ checkpoint near Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 42km north-east of Donetsk), two armed members of the armed formations allowed the SMM to proceed only upon inspecting the boots of both SMM vehicles.
• The SMM could not verify the presence of some weapons that were in a locked container at a permanent storage site in a non-government-controlled area of Luhansk region (see above).

[1] For a complete breakdown of ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table. During the reporting period, the SMM camera in Hranitne and Krasnohorivka were not operational and mist and fog limited the observation capabilities of the majority of other SMM cameras.

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