Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 27 January 2019

This report is for the media and the general public.

Summary

• Between the evenings of 25 and 26 January, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the previous reporting period.
• Between the evenings of 26 and 27 January, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours.
• The SMM observed damage from gunfire in residential areas in Chermalyk and Zolote-5/Mykhailivka. 
• The SMM recorded ceasefire violations inside and near the Zolote disengagement area and near the Petrivske disengagement area. 
• The Mission saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines in a government-controlled area in Donetsk region.
• The SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate operations of essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk region.
• Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM’s freedom of movement was also restricted near Kostiantynivka.*

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, between the evenings of 25 and 26 January, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including about 20 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 100 explosions). More than half of the ceasefire violationswere recorded in areas south-east of Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk).

Between the evenings of 26 and 27 January, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 30 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours. The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded in areas east and south-east of Svitlodarsk, west of Yasynuvata (non-government-controlled, 16km north-east of Donetsk) and close to the disengagement area near Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk)(see the disengagement areas section below).

In Luhansk region, between the evenings of 25 and 26 January, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including three explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 70 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 26 and 27 January, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including one explosion, compared with the previous 24 hours. 

Damage from gunfire to residential buildings in Chermalyk and Zolote-5/Mykhailivka

On 26 January, at 59 Naberezhna Street in Chermalyk (government-controlled, 31km north-east of Mariupol), the SMM saw two fresh impacts in two south-east-facing walls (close to the front door) of a single-storey house, assessed as caused by small-arms fire. The SMM also saw older shrapnel damage to the same walls. The owners of the house (a couple in their fifties) showed the SMM a bullet which they said they had found on the ground below one of the impacts. They told the SMM that their house had been hit twice by gunfire on 24 January and that they are afraid to leave their residence past the late afternoon hours due to the ongoing gunfire. 

On the same day, at 13 Vojkova Street in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk), the SMM saw bullet holes in five west-facing windows (one bullet hole on the first floor, two on the third floor and two on the fourth floor) of a five-storey residential building. In a second five-storey residential building (next to the first one), the SMM saw a bullet hole in a north-facing window frame located on the second floor. The Mission assessed the damage as recent and to have been caused by small-arms rounds. According to three residents of the buildings (two women and one man in their sixties), the windows were hit in the early evening hours of 11 January. A resident of the damaged apartment on the first floor of the first building said that at the time she had been hiding with her two grandchildren in a back room of the apartment due to the ongoing gunfire.

On 27 January, on the playing field of the stadium in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka (and 60m south-east of the closest residential house), the SMM saw a fresh crater (1.5m in diameter), assessed to have been caused by the impact of a mortar round or recoilless-gun (SPG-type) fired from a north-north-easterly direction. At the location, three civilians (two men and one woman, aged 20-40) told the SMM that shelling had occurred in the early morning hours of 27 January.

Disengagement areas[2]

Between the evenings of 25 and 26 January, the SMM camera in Zolote recorded 23 projectiles in flight at an assessed range of 1-3km south-east (assessed as inside the disengagement area) and 40 projectiles in flight at an assessed range of 1-3km east and east-south-east (assessed as outside the disengagement area).

In the morning of 27 January, positioned about 3.5km north of Petrivske, the SMM heard 35 bursts of small-arms and heavy-machine-gun fire at an assessed range of 3-4km south-south-east and west-south-west (assessed as outside the disengagement area).[3]

On 26 and 27 January, positioned close to 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 withdrawal lines

Government-controlled areas

27 January

The SMM saw:

• 12 self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) and three multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) (BM-21 Grad, 122mm) at a railway station in Kostiantynivka (60km north of Donetsk).

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites:

Government-controlled areas

25 January

An SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted:

• two probable surface-to-air missile systems (9K33 Osa) near Syrotyne (71km north-west of Luhansk).

26 January

The SMM saw:

• five MLRS (BM-21) inside a military compound near Peredove (68km south-west of Donetsk) and
• three towed mortars  (2B9 Vasilek, 82mm) loaded on three military trucks near Novoaidar (49km north-west of Luhansk).

27 January

The SMM saw: 

• 11 self-propelled mortars (2S9 Nona-S, 120mm) at a railway station in Kostiantynivka and
• five self-propelled mortars (2S9) near Rubizhne (84km north-west of Luhansk).

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

Government-controlled areas

25 January

An SMM long-range UAV spotted:

• four armoured combat vehicles (undetermined variants) near Maiorsk (45km north-east of Donetsk);
• an armoured combat vehicle (undetermined variant) in Oleksandropillia (71km west of Luhansk); and
• five armoured combat vehicles (undetermined variants) near Toshkivka (60km north-west of Luhansk).

26 January

The SMM saw:

• two armoured reconnaissance vehicles (BRDM variants) near Klynove (68km north-east of Donetsk);
• an armoured personnel carrier (BTR variant) on the northern edge of Chermalyk
• an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23, 23mm) loaded on a military truck near Shchastia (20km north of Luhansk); and
• an infantry fighting vehicle (BMP-1) near Zolote-2/Karbonit (62km west of Luhansk).

Non-government-controlled areas

25 January

An SMM long-range UAV spotted:

• an armoured combat vehicle (undetermined variant) near Lohvynove (59km north-east of Donetsk)

26 January

The SMM saw:

• two military vehicles with electronic warfare equipment (one with an antenna mast and the other with a square box for an antenna mast on its roof) near Debaltseve (58km north-east of Donetsk).

SMM facilitation of repair works to civilian infrastructure

On 26 and 27 January, the SMM facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station.

Border areas outside of Government control

On 26 January, while at a border crossing point in Uspenka (73km south-east of Donetsk), the SMM saw 73 cars (eight with Ukrainian and 40 with Russian Federation licence plates, and 25 with “DPR” plates), 14 covered cargo trucks (eight with Ukrainian, one with Russian Federation and one with Bulgarian licence plates, and four with “DPR” plates) and 14 pedestrians exiting Ukraine as well as 24 cars (two with Ukrainian and eight with Russian Federation licence plates, and 14 with “DPR” plates), a bus with “DPR” plates and six pedestrians  entering Ukraine.

On the same day, while at a border crossing point near Ulianivske (61km south-east of Donetsk), the SMM did not observe any vehicles or pedestrians crossing in either direction. 

The SMM observed a calm situation at the crossing point in Chonhar

On 23 January, the SMM observed a calm situation at the crossing point with Crimea in Chonhar (163km south-east of Kherson).

The Mission continued monitoring in 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 theJoint 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 25 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.

Denial of access: 

• On 26 January, a Ukrainian Armed Forces officer denied the SMM access to a fenced cargo area at the railway station in Kostiantynivka.

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. 

[1]For a complete breakdown of ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table. Between the evenings of 25 and 26 January, the SMM cameras in Svitlodarsk and Stanytsia Luhanska were not operational. Between the evenings of 26 and 27 January, the SMM camera in Stanytsia Luhanska was not operational. Winter weather conditions limited the observation capabilities of the majority of the SMM cameras throughout the reporting period.

[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.