Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 7 January 2019

This report is for the media and the general public.

Summary

• Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 4 and 5 January, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region.
• Between the evenings of 5 and 6 January, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous 24 hours.
• Between the evenings of 6 and 7 January, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous 24 hours.
• The Mission saw fresh damage from gunfire to a functional school and a store in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka.
• The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area.
• In Kyiv, the Mission monitored a peaceful public gathering related to the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
• Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted in Staromykhailivka, near Starolaspa and near Leonove, close to the border with the Russian Federation.*

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, between the evenings of 4 and 5 January, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 40 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (eight explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded at easterly directions of Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk) and in areas north-west of Debaltseve (non-government-controlled, 58km north-east of Donetsk).

Between the evenings of 5 and 6 January, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including, however, more explosions (about 50), compared with the previous 24 hours. The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded again at easterly directions of Svitlodarsk.

Between the evenings of 6 and 7 January, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 150 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours. The majority of ceasefire violations, including all explosions, were recorded in areas south-east of Avdiivka (government-controlled, 17km north of Donetsk) and again at easterly directions of Svitlodarsk.

In Luhansk region, between the evenings of 4 and 5 January, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including four explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (five explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded inside and close to the disengagement area near Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) (see the disengagement areas section below).

Between the evenings of 5 and 6 January, the Mission recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including five explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours. All explosions were recorded in areas south-west of Putylyne (government-controlled, 44km north-west of Luhansk).

Between the evenings of 6 and 7 January, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including, six explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours. The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded in areas north-east of Holubivske (non-government-controlled, 51km west of Luhansk).

Man injured as a result of gunfire in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka

The SMM’s access to the area of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk) has been limited in recent months due to a deteriorating security situation near that location. On 5 January, at a bus station in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, a man (in his fifties) who identified himself as a bus driver told the Mission that one of his passengers had been injured on 22 September 2018 when the bus had been hit by a bullet near the checkpoint of the armed formations on the southern edge of the Zolote disengagement area. He said the bus had been travelling along its usual route from Pervomaisk (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk) to Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. At the station, the Mission saw a bus with a hole in a metal luggage rack located above the third window on the bus’s left side. It assessed the damage as caused by small-arms fire. The wife (in her thirties) of the injured passenger told the SMM that on 22 September 2018 a shard of glass had caused a cut to her husband’s ear while he had been on the bus from Pervomaisk to Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. She said he had heard a loud noise and seen the window next to him shattering. An employee (woman, in her forties) of a bookshop near the bus station in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka told the Mission that on 22 September 2018 she had seen a bus with a broken window arriving at the station and one of its passengers holding his hand over his ear.

Fresh damage from gunfire to a functional school and a store in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka

On 4 January, on the third floor of a school building at Myru Street in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, the SMM saw a hole in a partially shattered pane of a west-north-west-facing window. On the first floor, the Mission saw another hole in a partially shattered window pane and another partially shattered window pane of two west-north-west-facing windows.

At 12a Myru Street, about 100m north-east of the above-mentioned school, the SMM saw a hole in the north-west-facing exterior wall of a shop building.

In both cases the Mission assessed the damage as fresh and caused by small-arms fire. Four women (in their forties and fifties) who identified themselves as residents of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka told the SMM there had been gunfire in this area in the afternoons of 25 December 2018 and of 1 January, and in the evening of 4 January.

Disengagement areas[2]

In the early morning and evening of 5 January, the SMM camera in Zolote recorded 20 projectiles in flight at an assessed range of 1-4km east and east-south-east (assessed as outside the disengagement area). On the same day, positioned in Zolote-4/Rodina (government-controlled, 59km west of Luhansk), the Mission heard two bursts of undetermined weapons at an assessed range of 0.5-1km south (assessed as inside the disengagement area). Positioned on the southern edge of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, it heard a shot and 12 bursts of small-arms fire, all at an assessed range of 1-2km north-north-west (all assessed as outside the disengagement area). On 6 and 7 January, positioned close to the disengagement area, the SMM observed a calm situation.

On 5, 6 and 7 January, positioned inside the disengagement area near Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk), the Mission observed a calm situation.

On 6 January, positioned about 2km north of Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), the SMM observed a calm situation near 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.

Beyond the withdrawal lines but outside designated storage sites

Non-government-controlled areas

4 January

An SMM mini unmanned aerial vehicle spotted:

• 20 tanks (11 T-64 and nine T-72), eight self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm), 12 towed howitzers (D-30, Lyagushka, 122mm), 12 mortars (2B11 Sani, 120mm) and six anti-tank guns (MT-12 Rapira, 100mm) in a training area near Myrne (28km south-west of Luhansk); and
• 28 tanks (13 T-64 and 15 T-72) in a training area near Kruhlyk (31km south-west of Luhansk) (for previous observations, see SMM Daily Report of 3 January 2019).

Indications of military and military-type presence in the security zone[4]

Government-controlled areas

5 January

• An armoured personnel carrier (APC) (MT-LB) in Avdiivka
• An APC (MT-LB) in Krasnohorivka (24km north of Donetsk)
• A combat engineering vehicle (BAT-2) near Voitove (33km north-west of Luhansk)

7 January

• An anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23, 23mm) near Kamianka (20km north of Donetsk)

Non-government-controlled areas

5 January

• An infantry fighting vehicle (BMP-2) near Kalynove (60km west of Luhansk)

SMM facilitation of repair works to civilian infrastructure

The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repair works to water pipelines near Zalizne (formerly Artemove, government-controlled, 42km north-east of Donetsk) (5 January) and near Obozne (non-government-controlled, 18km north of Luhansk) (5 and 6 January) and to power lines near Katerynivka (government-controlled, 64km west of Luhansk) (6 January). It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station.

Public gathering in Kyiv related to the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church of Ukraine

On 7 January, in Kyiv, the SMM monitored a peaceful public gathering at the Sofiiska Square in front of the Saint Sophia Cathedral (24 Volodymyrska Street) to mark the reception of the tomos by the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. In the morning the Mission saw about 300 and in the afternoon about 7,000 people (mixed gender and ages) gathered at the Sofiiska Square (about 500 people were queueing to enter the premises of the Cathedral, reportedly to see the tomos which was on display inside) and the nearby Mykhailivska Square. At and near the Sofiiska Square, it saw at least three dialogue police officers, four National Guard buses and two mobile-detention trucks.

On the same day, inside the main church of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra complex (15 Lavrska Street) the SMM saw about 2,000 people (mixed gender and ages) participating in a liturgical service on the occasion of Orthodox Christmas. Inside and outside the complex, the Mission saw four law enforcement officers as well as a police car parked near the main entrance.

Public gathering in Novooleksiivka

On 4 January, in Novooleksiivka (189km south-east of Kherson), the Mission monitored a peaceful public gathering in support of a detained Crimean Tatar activist. Near a mosque at 14 Zlahody Street, the Mission saw about 120 people (mixed gender and ages), some of them holding banners reading “#FreeEdemBekirov”, and one police officer nearby.

Other observations

On 4 January, the SMM observed a calm situation at the crossing point in Chonhar (163km south-east of Kherson).

The Mission continued monitoring in Odessa, Lviv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, 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, 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

• On 5 January, at a checkpoint near Starolaspa (non-government-controlled, 51km south of Donetsk), three members of the armed formations prevented the SMM from travelling westwards toward Novolaspa (non-government-controlled, 50km south of Donetsk), citing “ongoing kinetic activity and poor road conditions”.
• On 6 January, at a checkpoint in Staromykhailivka (non-government-controlled, 15km west of Donetsk), three members of the armed formations denied the SMM passage toward the settlement, citing “lack of prior notification of the SMM’s intentions” and “unpassable roads due to winter weather”.
• On 6 January, near Leonove (non-government-controlled, formerly Chervonyi Zhovten, 82km south of Luhansk), three members of the armed formations denied the SMM access to a border crossing point in Leonove, citing “poor road conditions”.

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.  
• On 7 January, at a checkpoint of the armed formations about 3km south of the bridge in Shchastia (government-controlled, 20km north of Luhansk), a member of the armed formations told the Mission that mines on the road leading north had not been cleared.

[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. Between the evenings of 4 and 5 January and between the evenings of 6 and 7 January, winter weather conditions limited the observation capabilities of some of the SMM cameras.

* 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] 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.

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