Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 16 April 2019

This report is for the media and the general public.

Summary

• Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• The SMM saw fresh damage caused by gunfire to houses in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka.
• The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas.
• The SMM observed weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines near Khrustalnyi, in a non-government-controlled area of Luhansk region.
• The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to and the operation of essential civilian infrastructure in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas and elsewhere. The Mission was also restricted at a checkpoint near Verkhnoshyrokivske in a non-government-controlled area of southern Donetsk region, as well as at a railway station in Voznesenivka and at a border crossing point near Voznesenivka in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region.*

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 310 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (33 explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations, including the majority of explosions, were recorded in areas south and south-east of Chermalyk (government-controlled, 31km north-east of Mariupol), in areas south of Pyshchevyk (government-controlled, 25km north-east of Mariupol) and in areas west-south-west of Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk). Positioned about 2km south-west of Pyshchevyk, the SMM heard and saw 13 explosions assessed as impacts of 120mm mortar rounds and saw black smoke rising at an assessed distance of 4km south-south-east.

In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations, including 40 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (five explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded in areas east, south-east and north-east of Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk).

Damage caused by gunfire to houses and fresh craters in residential areas of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka

On 15 April, at 10 Lizy Chaikinoi Street on the western edge of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk), the SMM, accompanied by members of the armed formations, saw a fresh crater in a yard about 4m north of the north-facing side of a two-storey house. The SMM saw about 14 shattered windows and fresh shrapnel damage (about 150 holes) on the north-facing side of the house. The SMM assessed the damage as caused by rounds of automatic grenade launchers (OG-9 or OG-15) fired from a west-north-westerly direction.

At 9 Lizy Chaikinoi Street, the SMM saw four shattered windows and fresh shrapnel damage (about 30 holes) on the south-facing side of a two-storey house. The SMM assessed the damage as caused by rounds of automatic grenade launchers (OG-9 or OG-15) fired from a west-north-westerly direction. A resident of the house told the SMM that shelling had occurred in the area at about 19:20 on 14 April when he had been with his wife inside their apartment on the first floor. He added that the residents of the apartment on the ground floor, a couple (aged 30-40) and their two daughters (aged 5 and 11), had also been inside the house. 

At 5 Dundycha Street, about 200m east of Lizy Chaikinoi Street, the SMM saw a fresh crater in a yard, about 40m west of the west-facing side of a two-storey house. The SMM assessed the crater as caused by the explosion of a rocket-propelled grenade round (PG-7-type) fired from a west-north-westerly direction.

On the north-western edge of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, at 1 Pervomaiska Street, the SMM saw a fresh crater in a yard 2m east of the east-facing side of a one-storey non-inhabited house and about 6m south of the south-facing side of another house (inhabited) located at the same address. The SMM saw two shattered windows on the east-facing side of the non-inhabited house as well as another crater 25m east of it. It also saw two shattered windows and fresh shrapnel damage to the south-facing side of the inhabited house. The SMM assessed the damage as caused by rounds of automatic grenade launcher(s) (OG-9 or OG-15), but it could not assess the direction of fire. A resident of the house (male, aged 38) told the SMM that shelling had occurred at around 19:50 on 14 April while he had been inside his apartment with his wife and son.

At 9 Poshtova Street, about 80m east of the houses at 1 Pervomaiska Street, the SMM observed a hole (around 40cm in diameter) on the eastern side of the roof of a one-storey house. The SMM saw two shattered windows and fresh shrapnel damage on the east-facing side of the house. It also saw fresh shrapnel damage to the west-facing side of an outbuilding and to the north-facing wooden side of a garage, respectively 2-3m west and 1m south of the house. The SMM assessed all aforementioned damage as caused by rounds of an automatic grenade launcher (OG-9 or OG-15), but it could not assess the direction of fire. A resident of the house (male, aged 55) told the SMM that shelling had occurred in the area at about 19:45 on 14 April and that he had been in the yard with his brother at that time.

At 4 Myru Street on the south-eastern edge of Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, the SMM saw a hole in a west-facing window on the second floor of a functioning school building. It also saw fresh damage to a north-facing window of a one-storey building west of the main school building. The SMM was unable to assess the type of weapon used or direction of fire. A school representative (female, aged 45) told the SMM that shelling had occurred on the evening of 14 April and at that time no pupils had been present inside the facility. The same school has sustained damage eight times since December 2018 (for previous observations please see SMM Daily Report of 12 April 2019).

Disengagement areas[2]

On 15 April, inside the disengagement area near Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk), an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) revealed that the previously observed anti-tank mines (TM-62) laid out across road T-1316 about 200m south of the railway tracks were no longer visible. The same UAV spotted an armoured combat vehicle (type undetermined), north of the railway tracks and west of road T-316, assessed as belonging to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

During the day on 16 April, positioned near the checkpoint of the armed formations on the southern edge of the disengagement area, the SMM heard five bursts of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 1-2km north-west (assessed as inside the Zolote disengagement area).

During the day on 16 April, positioned about 2km north of Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), the SMM heard an undetermined explosion at an assessed range of 2-4km south-west (assessed as inside the disengagement area), as well as about ten undetermined explosions and about 25 shots and bursts of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire at an assessed range of 1-4km south-east, south-south-east and 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.

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.

Weapons in violation of withdrawal lines

Non-government-controlled areas

16 April

The SMM saw 15 multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) (BM-21 Grad, 122mm) near Khrustalnyi (formerly Krasnyi Luch, 56km south-west of Luhansk).  

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites

Government-controlled areas

16 April

The SMM saw a mortar (2B9 Vasilek, 82mm) towed by a military truck (Ural) on road T-1306, about 4km south-east of Oknyne (53km north-west of Luhansk).

Weapons storage sites

At a permanent storage site in a government-controlled area of Luhansk region

16 April

The SMM saw that nine tanks (T-72) continued to be missing.

At a permanent storage site in a government-controlled area of Donetsk region

16 April

The SMM noted that the site was abandoned and that 14 mortars (2B11 Sani, 120mm) continued to be missing.

At a heavy weapons permanent storage site in a non-government-controlled area of Luhansk region

16 April

The SMM saw that seven MLRS (BM-21) and five towed howitzers (2A65 Msta-B, 152mm) continued to be missing.

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

At heavy weapons holding areas in government-controlled areas of Donetsk region

16 April

The SMM noted that:

• four anti-tank guns (MT-12 Rapira, 100mm) were present and
• 113 towed howitzers (45 D-20, 152mm; 56 2A36 Giatsint-B, 152mm; and 12 2A65), 18 self-propelled howitzers (2S3 Akatsiya, 152mm) and 12 anti-tank guns (D-48, 85mm) continued to be missing.  

Presence of unexploded ordnance (UXO) and new mine hazard signs

The SMM saw a piece of UXO, assessed as a 122mm rocket from an MLRS (BM-21), lying next to a road in Novohryhorivka (non-government-controlled, 61km north-east of Donetsk).

The SMM saw three new mine hazard signs (red squares with “Stop Mines!” written in Russian and “Danger Mines!” in English) next to road M-04 near Debaltseve (non-government-controlled, 58km north-east of Donetsk).

Demining activities in Myrna Dolyna

On 16 April, the SMM saw a demining team from a non-governmental organization conducting demining activities in fields on both sides of road P-66, about 2km west of Myrna Dolyna (government-controlled, 67km north-west of Luhansk). 

SMM facilitation of repairs to civilian infrastructure

The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk), as well as to powerlines in Katerynivka (government-controlled, 64km west of Luhansk) and near Zaitseve (50km north-east of Donetsk). The SMM continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station (15km north of Donetsk) and monitor the security situation around the pumping station near Vasylivka (non-government-controlled, 20km north of Donetsk).

Border areas outside government control

While at a border crossing point near Ulianivske (61km south-east of Donetsk) for about 20 minutes, the SMM observed no vehicular or pedestrian cross-border traffic.

While at a border crossing point near Uspenka (73km south-east of Donetsk) for about one hour and ten minutes, the SMM saw 12 cars (four with Ukrainian, seven with Russian Federation and one with Georgian licence plates), a bus (route “Moscow-Donetsk”) with “DPR” plates, and seven pedestrians (five women aged 30-70 and two men aged 30-60) entering Ukraine. The SMM also saw ten cars (one with Ukrainian, three with Russian Federation and two with Lithuanian licence plates, as well as four with “DPR” plates), three covered cargo trucks with Ukrainian licence plates, and three pedestrians (two women aged 30-40 and one man aged 40-50) exiting Ukraine.

At a border crossing point near Voznesenivka (formerly Chervonopartyzansk, 65km south-east of Luhansk), the SMM saw two cars with Ukrainian licence plates entering Ukraine. After about five minutes, a member of the armed formations told the SMM to leave the area.*

At the Chervona Mohyla railway station near Voznesenivka, two members of the armed formations (of which one was armed) told the SMM to leave the area upon its arrival.*

SMM monitors security situation south-east of Kherson region

On 14 April, the SMM observed calm situations at the crossing point between Chonhar (163km south-east of Kherson) and Crimea, and along the Sea of Azov coast.

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, 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:

• At a border crossing point near Voznesenivka (formerly Chervonopartyzansk, non-government-controlled, 65km south-east of Luhansk), a member of the armed formations told the SMM to leave the area.
• At the Chervona Mohyla railway station in Voznesenivka, two members of the armed formations (of which one was armed) told the SMM to leave the area.
• On two occasions at a checkpoint about 600m west of Verkhnoshyrokivske (formerly Oktiabr, non-government-controlled, 29km north-east of Mariupol), members of the armed formations denied the SMM passage. On the first occasion, a member of the armed formations stopped the SMM, asking for a “trip ticket”, and added that for security reasons the SMM could not proceed through. About 30 minutes later, at the same checkpoint, another member of the armed formations denied the SMM passage, citing the need for approval from his “superior”.

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.

[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. The SMM noted that five such sites continued to be abandoned.