Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 8 March 2019

This report is for the media and the general public.

Summary

• The SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous reporting period.
• Following the beginning of a recommitment to the ceasefire coinciding with International Women’s Day at 00:01 on 8 March, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions, compared with the hours before midnight.
• A man lost both lower limbs and suffered an eye injury due to an incident with unexploded ordnance in Makiivka.
• The Mission monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement area and elsewhere. Its access was also restricted near non-government-controlled Zaichenko.*
• In Kyiv, Kharkiv, Uzhhorod and Mariupol the SMM observed events on the occasion of International Women’s Day.

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including about 185 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (680 explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded in areas south-east and south-south-east of Chermalyk (government-controlled, 31km north-east of Mariupol), while the majority of explosions were recorded in areas south-south-east and south-west of Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km north-east of Donetsk) and in areas west-south-west of Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk).

About 35 per cent of the ceasefire violations (about 380), including 56 explosions, were recorded after the beginning of the recommitment to the ceasefire at 00:01 on 8 March.

In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 930 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (190 explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations, all explosions, were recorded in areas south, east and west of Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk), in areas west of Kadiivka (formerly Stakhanov, non-government-controlled, 50km west of Luhansk) and in areas east of Luhansk city.

About three per cent of the ceasefire violations (about 30), including seven explosions, were recorded after the beginning of the recommitment to the ceasefire at 00:01 on 8 March.

Following the beginning of the recommitment to the ceasefire, the SMM recorded in total around 400 ceasefire violations (including 63 explosions) in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Man loses both legs and suffers eye injury due to incident with unexploded ordnance (UXO) in Makiivka

The SMM followed up on reports of a man who had suffered injuries in an incident with UXO in Makiivka (non-government-controlled, 12km north-east of Donetsk). On 8 March, at a hospital in Makiivka, the Mission saw a man (in his thirties) with both lower limbs amputated below the knees and his left eye half-closed. He told the Mission that on 19 February he had picked up a round-shaped metal object in the street while walking to his garage in Zaslonova Street in Makiivka. At his garage, he said, he had accidentally dropped the object and could not remember anything that had happened afterwards. Medical staff at the same hospital told the SMM that the man had been admitted on 19 February with blast injuries to both lower limbs necessitating amputations, as well as an eye injury.  

Disengagement areas[2]

On the evening of 7 March, the SMM camera in Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) recorded an undetermined burst at an assessed range of 0.5-1km south-east (assessed as outside the disengagement area).

On the day of 8 March, positioned on the northern edge of the disengagement area near Zolote, the SMM heard six bursts and two shots of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 2-4km west-south-west (assessed as outside the disengagement area). Positioned on the southern edge of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk), the SMM heard three undetermined explosions at an assessed range of 6-8km south-west (assessed as outside the disengagement area).

Also on the 8 March, positioned near the disengagement areas close to Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk) and Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), the SMM observed calm situations.[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 withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites

Non-government-controlled areas

8 March

The SMM saw:

• at least seven tanks (type undetermined) parked in a compound on the northern edge of Khrustalnyi (formerly Krasnyi Luch, 56km south-west of Luhansk) (for previous observations, SMM Daily Report of 8 March 2019).

Weapons that the SMM could not verify as withdrawn[4]

At heavy weapons holding areas beyond the respective withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas of Donetsk region

8 March

The SMM noted that:

• six self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) and four surface-to-air missile systems (three 9K33 Osa and one 9K35 Strela-10) were again missing.

Indications of military presence inside the security zone[5]

Government-controlled areas

8 March

The SMM saw:

-  an armoured personnel carrier (APC) ( BTR-60) near Novobakhmutivka (28km north of Donetsk).

Demining activities and presence of mine hazard signs

The SMM observed 18 people dressed in protective clothing and equipped with sticks and other equipment carrying out demining activities in a field adjacent to a road  between Lomakyne (government-controlled, 15km north-east of Mariupol) and Talakivka (government-controlled, 17km north-east of Mariupol).

In Raivka (non-government-controlled, 16km north-west of Luhansk) the SMM observed, for the first time, a mine hazard sign (with the word “Mine” written in Russian), attached to a stick placed in soft ground 25m south of the road.

SMM facilitation of repairs to civilian infrastructure

The SMM monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to damaged power lines at the Zolote-5/Mykhailivka power station (non-government-controlled, 58km north-west of Luhansk). A representative of the electricity company carrying out the repairs told the SMM that repairs had been successfully completed.

The Mission continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station (15km north of Donetsk) and to monitor the security situation around the pumping station near Vasylivka (non-government-controlled, 20km north of Donetsk).

Events on the occasion of International Women’s Day

On 8 March, the SMM observed events on the occasion of International Women’s Day in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Uzhhorod (182km west of Ivano-Frankivsk) and Mariupol (a similar gathering was observed in Odessa on 7 March).

In Kyiv, the Mission saw about 1,100 young people (mostly women) gather at Mykhailivska Square and march through the city centre, and heard them expressing, among other things, support for women’s rights and opposition to violence against women. At the square, the SMM saw about 350 law enforcement officers in riot gear separating the gathering from a second group of 150-200 young people (mostly men) heard expressing opposition to the march. The SMM saw three young men, belonging to the group opposing the march, detained by the police. Police officers told the Mission that another group of the men was being questioned at a police station because they had damaged equipment belonging to march participants. The SMM did not observe further incidents.

In Kharkiv, the Mission observed two peaceful public gatherings: around 100 participants belonging to the first gathering (mostly women) expressed support for “female solidarity”, while participants of the second one (around 30, mostly men) held up banners opposing ideas propagated by the first group. The Mission saw around 200 police officers present and did not observe any incidents.

The Mission continued monitoring in Kherson, Lviv, 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 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 of 8 March 2018). 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 checkpoint about 1km north of Zaichenko (non-government-controlled, 26km north-east of Mariupol), two armed members of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage south to Sakhanka (non-government-controlled, 24km north-east of Mariupol), citing “security concerns”.

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.
• The SMM did not travel across the bridge in Shchastia (government-controlled, 20km north of Luhansk) due to the presence of mines. A Ukrainian Armed Forces officer of the JCCC said there were mines on the road south of the bridge.

[1]           For a complete breakdown of ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table. During the reporting period, the SMM camera in Krasnohorivka was not operational.

* 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 on a road between Bohdanivka and Petrivske, the SMM cannot access its camera in Petrivske, and thus the SMM has not been able to access observations from the camera since 22 June 2018.

[4] The SMM observed weapons that could not be verified as withdrawn, as their storage did not comply with the criteria set out in the 16 October 2015 notification from the SMM to the signatories of the Package of Measures on effective monitoring and verification of the withdrawal of heavy weapons.

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