Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 4 January 2019

This report is for the media and the general public.

Summary

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region.
• The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas.

• Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and in Shchastia.*

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including, however, a similar number of explosions (eight), compared with the previous reporting period. The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded at easterly and southerly directions of Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk).

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including, however, fewer explosions (five), compared with the previous reporting period (12 explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded in areas south of Almazna (non-government-controlled, 55km west of Luhansk) and north-west and east-north-east of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk) (see the disengagement areas section below).

Disengagement areas[2]

In the early morning hours of 4 January, the SMM camera in Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) recorded four projectiles in flight (two from north-north-east to south-south-west and two from north to south) at an assessed range of 1-1.5km east-north-east and east (assessed as outside the disengagement area). During the day on 4 January, positioned in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, the SMM heard four shots of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 1-2km north-west (assessed as inside the disengagement area) and 40 shots of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 2-3km east-north-east (assessed as outside the disengagement area). On the same day, positioned on the southern edge of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, the SMM heard eight shots (five of small-arms fire and three of undetermined weapons), all at an assessed range of 1-2km north-west (assessed as inside the disengagement area) and five shots of undetermined weapons at an assessed range of 1-2km north (assessed as outside the disengagement area). Positioned on the northern edge of the Zolote disengagement area, the SMM heard an undetermined explosion at an assessed range of 5-7km south and 15 shots of small-arms fire, a burst of heavy-machine-gun fire and a shot of an automatic grenade launcher (AGL), all at an assessed range of 2km east (all assessed as outside the disengagement area).

On the morning of 4 January, positioned about 2km north of Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk) the SMM heard eight bursts of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 2-3km south-south-west (assessed as inside the disengagement area) and nine bursts and shots of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire at an assessed range of 1-2km south (assessed as outside the disengagement area). [3]

Positioned inside the disengagement area near Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk), the SMM observed a calm situation.

New mine hazard signs

The SMM saw for the first time a mine hazard sign, a red rectangle with “Distance to minefield 300 metres. Access allowed only in protective gear” written in Ukrainian in white letters, on the southern side of a local road about 2km south-east of Kryva Luka (government-controlled, 98km north of Donetsk). The Mission also saw for the first time a mine hazard sign, red with white lettering reading “Mines” in Russian, posted on a fenced gate outside the entrance to a compound in Mykolaivka (government-controlled, 64km north-west of Donetsk).

Hardships faced by civilians at checkpoints along the contact line

The SMM saw two metal containers being constructed at the entry-exit checkpoint of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Maiorsk (government-controlled, 45 north-east of Donetsk). The Mission also saw 20 people (mostly elderly women) in a tent of the State Emergency Services placed at the same checkpoint. A representative of the State Emergency Services told the SMM that the high number of people in the tent was due to the holiday season and that they had all been denied passage due to issues with their documentation.  

The Mission also saw a slippery road surface at the entry-exit checkpoint of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Novotroitske (government-controlled, 36km south-west of Donetsk) causing difficulties for civilians (particularly elderly people) to walk.

SMM facilitation of repair works to civilian infrastructure

The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to a water pipeline near Obozne (non-government-controlled, 18km north of Luhansk). The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station.

Border areas not under government control

While at a border crossing point near Uspenka (73km south-east of Donetsk) for about 20 minutes, the SMM saw 27 cars (four with Ukrainian, 14 with Russian Federation and one with Lithuanian licence plates as well as eight with “DPR” plates) leaving Ukraine and no traffic in the opposite direction.

*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  SMM Daily Report 4 January 2019). 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.

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.

[1] For a complete breakdown of ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table. During the reporting period, the SMM cameras in Krasnohorivka and at the entry-exit checkpoint near Pyshchevyk were not operational and winter weather conditions 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] Due to the presence of mines, including 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.