Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 7 July 2019
This report is for the media and the general public.
Summary
- Compared with the previous reporting period, between the evenings of 5 and 6 July, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region.
- Between the evenings of 6 and 7 July, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions compared with the previous 24 hours.
- A woman was injured by small-arms fire at a checkpoint near Horlivka and a woman suffered a concussion from shelling in Nova Marivka.
- The SMM saw fresh damage from small-arms fire to apartments in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka and to houses and infrastructure in both Dokuchaievsk and Pervomaisk. It also saw damage from shelling to houses in Yasne, and a burnt church and damage from shelling to a house in Pikuzy.
- Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, an SMM mini-UAV spotted members of the State Emergency Service conducting demining activities.
- The Mission recorded ceasefire violations inside the Zolote disengagement area.
- It saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region.
- The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs and the operations of critical civilian infrastructure.
- Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including in non-government-controlled Shevchenko, Hryhorivka, Yuzhna Lomuvatka, Oleksandrivske, and Novoazovsk.*
Ceasefire violations[1]
In Donetsk region, between the evenings of 5 and 6 July, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including more explosions (about 170), compared with the previous reporting period (about 60 explosions). Nearly half of the ceasefire violations were recorded at southerly and south-easterly directions of Pyshchevyk (government-controlled, 25km north-east of Mariupol) and south-easterly directions of Hnutove (government-controlled, 20km north-east of Mariupol).
Between the evenings of 6 and 7 July, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including more explosions (about 370), compared with the previous 24 hours. About half of the ceasefire violations were recorded in areas north-west and west-north-west of Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk), including about 270 explosions; and at southerly directions of Pyshchevyk (government-controlled, 25km north-east of Mariupol).
In Luhansk region, between the evenings of 5 and 6 July, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including fewer explosions (12), compared with the previous reporting period (165 explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations, including almost all of the explosions, were recorded in areas south and south-south-west of Kriakivka (government-controlled, 38km north-west of Luhansk).
Between the evenings of 6 and 7 July, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including more explosions (about 400), compared with the previous 24 hours. Almost all of the ceasefire violations, including all of the explosions, were recorded in areas south-east of Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk).
Woman injured by small-arms fire at checkpoint in Horlivka
On 7 July, at a hospital in Horlivka, the SMM saw a woman (39 years old) with a bandage on her right lower leg and some blood visible through the bandage. The woman told the Mission that she had been standing at a checkpoint of the armed formations near Horlivka on the afternoon of 6 July when she heard gunfire and felt a bullet strike her leg. She told the SMM that civilians had provided her with first aid until an ambulance had arrived and taken her to the hospital. On the same day, a doctor at the hospital told the SMM that a woman was admitted on the afternoon of 6 July with a penetrating gunshot wound to her lower right leg.
Woman suffered concussion from shelling in Nova Marivka
On 12 June, a woman (64 years old) in Nova Marivka (non-government-controlled, 64km south of Donetsk) told the SMM that on 9 June she had suffered a concussion due to shelling. She said that while in the yard of her house at 20 Tsentralna Street in Nova Marivka she had heard explosions close by and seen a round impact the southern part of her yard. The SMM saw a crater in the yard of the house as well as fresh damage to the house. On 6 July, medical staff in a hospital in Boikivske (formerly Telmanove, non-government-controlled, 67km south-east of Donetsk) told the SMM that the woman had been treated at the hospital for a concussion between 11 and 21 June (for previous observations in the area, see SMM Daily Report 14 June 2019).
Apartments damaged by small-arms fire in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka
On 5 July, the SMM saw fresh damage to two apartments in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka (non-government-controlled, 61km north-west of Luhansk). At a four-storey apartment building at 1 Myru Street, the Mission saw a hole in a west-north-west facing window of a ground-floor apartment, as well as a corresponding hole in a refrigerator located about 1m opposite the window. A resident of the apartment (woman in her fifties) told the SMM that she had been at home when she heard shooting during the night of 4 July. About 90m north-north-east, in an apartment on the third floor of a four-storey residential building at 3 Myru Street, the SMM saw a hole and a partially shattered north-north-east facing window, as well as a dent and a scratch in a cabinet adjacent to the window, and saw a 7.62mm bullet embedded in the wall opposite the window. The Mission assessed all the damage as fresh and caused by small-arms fire. Two residents of the apartment, a man and woman (in their forties), said they had found damage when they arrived home from their summer house on the morning of 4 July.
Houses damaged by heavy-machine-gun fire and shelling in Yasne
On 6 July, on the north-western edge of Yasne (non-government-controlled, 30km south-west of Donetsk), at 23 Valova Street, the SMM saw five bullet holes in the asbestos roof of a summer kitchen located about 3m south of an inhabited house and about 50m south-east of trenches belonging to the armed formations. About 10m south-east of the house, at 21 Valova Street, the SMM saw two shattered bricks, as well as a deep scrape in the south-facing eave of the summer kitchen. The Mission assessed all of the damage as fresh and caused by heavy-machine-gun fire.
About 350m east-south-east of the above-mentioned houses, at 20 Khmelnytskoho Street, the SMM saw a summer kitchen attached to an inhabited house with almost half of its asbestos roof boards displaced on both the south-western and north-eastern sides. The Mission also saw at least 50 holes (1-5cm in diameter) on both sides of the roof. The SMM assessed all of the damage as fresh and caused by shrapnel from an undetermined weapon. About 400m south-west of the house, at a two-storey apartment building at 31A Shchorsa Street on the south-western edge of Yasne, the SMM saw two holes in the west-facing balcony window of a ground-floor apartment, as well as a corresponding hole in a door leading to the balcony and a corresponding mark on a west-facing kitchen wall, all assessed as fresh and caused by heavy-machine-gun fire.
About 40m south-south-west, at 33 Shchorsa Street, the SMM saw a freshly splintered external west-facing wooden window frame in a ground-floor apartment, assessed as caused by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG-7). About 30m south-east of the window frame, the SMM saw a piece of UXO assessed as the tailfin of a RPG-7 lying in a garden. Nine residents of the above-mentioned houses (mixed genders, in their fifties and sixties) separately told the SMM that they had heard gunfire during the day on 4 July.
Two apartments and a heating plant damaged by small-arms fire in Dokuchaievsk
On 6 July, at a five-storey apartment building located at 87/11 Tsentralna Street in Dokuchaievsk (non-government-controlled, 30km south-west of Donetsk), the SMM saw a hole in the south-south-west-facing window of a third-floor apartment, assessed as fresh and caused by small-arms fire. Two residents (a man and woman in their twenties and thirties) told the Mission that they had heard glass shatter on the morning of 4 July.
About 300m west of the building, at a heating plant at 102B Lenina Street, the SMM saw a bullet hole in a south-south-east-facing window, assessed as fresh and caused by small-arms fire. A worker at the plant (a woman in her fifties) told the Mission she had heard gunfire on the morning of 4 July.
On 7 July, about 100m north-west from the heating plant, at a four-storey apartment building at 100 Lenina Street, the SMM saw a hole in a south-west-facing kitchen window of a third-floor apartment, assessed as fresh and caused by small-arms fire. A resident of the apartment (a woman in her fifties) told the Mission that she had been at home on the morning of 5 July when she had heard a shattering noise in the kitchen. (For previous observations at 102B and 100 Lenina Street, see SMM Daily Report 3 June 2019).
Church burned, house damaged by shelling, and two craters in Pikuzy
On 6 July, in Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, non-government-controlled, 23km north-east of Mariupol), at the Church of Saint Spyridon, the SMM saw that the entire roof had burned and collapsed, the church dome was scorched, and pieces of the plastic façade were scattered in the yard. A resident of Pikuzy (man in his fifties) and a visitor (woman in her forties) told the Mission that the fire had begun in the evening of 5 July shortly after they had heard shelling and small-arms fire in the area.
About 300m west-south-west of the church, at an inhabited house at 7 Peremohy Street, the SMM saw two craters, one located 8m east and one located 9m north-east of the house, as well as shrapnel damage to a concrete curb about 9m south-east of the house, shrapnel in the yard, and an 80mm fuse tunnel in one of the craters, all assessed as fresh and caused by 82mm mortar rounds fired from a north-westerly direction. On the north-east-facing wall of the house, the SMM also saw a freshly shattered window and shrapnel marks on the wall, assessed as not recent. The owner of the house (a woman in her sixties) told the Mission that she had been at home in the evening of 5 July when she had heard shelling.
Gas pipeline and three houses damaged by small-arms-fire in Pervomaisk
On 6 July, on the northern edge of Pervomaisk (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk), the SMM saw patched holes at three locations in the north-facing side of an elevated gas pipeline running east-to-west along Luhova Street, assessed as caused by small-arms fire.
At an inhabited house at 11 Luhova Street, the SMM saw a mark on the north-facing outer wall, assessed as caused by small-arms fire. About 30m west of the house, at an inhabited house at 13 Luhova Street, the Mission saw a freshly broken shingle on the north-facing roof of a one-storey residential house, assessed as caused by small-arms fire. About 20m west of the house, at an inhabited house at 15 Luhova Street, the SMM saw corresponding bullet holes in a north-facing metal gate, wooden fence, window, and wall of a chicken coop, all assessed as caused by a single shot of small-arms fire. Two residents of the neighbourhood separately told the SMM that they had heard shooting on the morning of 4 July.
Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area
On 5 July, an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted five members of the State Emergency Services (SES) conducting demining activities inside the disengagement area.
On 6 July, in the morning, the SMM saw members of the SES enter the disengagement area with a white armoured personnel carrier (APC) (Kozak). Shortly thereafter, the Mission saw three deminers with metal detectors in a field west of the road about 700m north of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge (15km north of Luhansk). In the afternoon, on the same road about 80m north of the bridge, the SMM saw eight workers with orange vests cutting grass and clearing debris from both sides of the road. Between the former forward position of the armed formations south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge and the checkpoint of the armed formations south of the bridge, the Mission saw at least four members of the armed formations, all of whom were wearing blue armbands with “JCCC” written on them.[2] On the same day, inside the disengagement area, the SMM visited former positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the railway bridge about 650m east-north-east of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge and saw that they were empty, and also visited former positions of the armed formations in houses about 1km west-south-west of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge and saw that they were empty.
On 7 July, inside the disengagement area, the SMM saw nine members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces enter the disengagement area. The Mission also saw seven members of the SES, as well as two explosive-sniffing dogs, checking the area on both sides of the wooden ramp on the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge, as well as nine civilian workers from the Luhansk Regional Road Service cleaning the road surface and sides of the road between the entry-exit checkpoint north of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge and the former forward position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Between the former forward position of the armed formations south of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge and the checkpoint of the armed formations, the SMM saw five members of the armed formations, four of whom were wearing blue armbands with “JCCC” written on them.
During the day on 7 July, while in Stanytsia Luhanska, the SMM heard a single shot of undetermined weapon at an assessed range of 300-400m south, assessed as outside the disengagement area.
Other disengagement areas[3]
On the night of 5 July, the SMM camera in Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) recorded an illumination flare at an assessed distance of 5-7km south-south-east, assessed as outside the disengagement area but within its 5km periphery. On the night of 6 July, the same camera recorded two projectiles in flight at an assessed range of 2-4km south-east and two projectiles and a muzzle flash at an assessed distance of 2-4km south-south-east, all assessed as inside the disengagement area. During the day on 6 July, positioned near Pervomaisk the SMM heard 15 bursts of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 4-5km west, assessed as outside the Zolote disengagement area but within its 5km periphery. In the early morning hours of 7 July, the SMM camera in Zolote recorded a projectile in flight at an assessed range of 4-6km south-south-west, assessed as outside the disengagement area but within its 5km periphery. During the day on 7 July, positioned near Zolote-5/Mykhailivka, the SMM heard a single shot of small-arms fire at an assessed distance of 1km north-west, assessed as inside the disengagement area.
On 6 July, positioned close to the disengagement area near Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), the SMM observed a calm situation.[4]
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
Non-government-controlled areas
6 July
An SMM long-range UAV spotted two tanks near Lobacheve (13km east of Luhansk).
Beyond withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites
Government-controlled areas
6 July
The SMM saw a surface-to-air missile system (9K35 Strela-10) near the railway station in Pokrovsk (formerly Krasnoarmiisk, 55km north-east of Donetsk).
Non-government-controlled areas
6 July
An SMM long-range UAV spotted 12 tanks near in a training area near Shymshynivka (27km south-west of Luhansk).
Indications of military and military-type presence in the security zone[5]
Government-controlled areas
5 July
An SMM long-range UAV spotted:
- an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (BTR variant) near Trokhizbenka (32km north-west of Luhansk) and
- two armoured combat vehicles (ACV) near Heivka (27km north-west of Luhansk).
An SMM mid-range UAV spotted three infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) (BMP-2) near Novoselivka (31km north of Donetsk).
6 July
The SMM saw:
- an IFV (BMP-2) near Karlivka (25km north-west of Donetsk);
- two armoured reconnaissance vehicles (BRDM-2) near Netailove (22km north-west of Donetsk);
- an IFV (BMP-2) near Umanske (25km north-west of Donetsk);
- four IFVs (BMP-2), five APCs (BTR-70), and an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRDM-2) in Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk);
- two IFVs (BTR-4) in Orlivka (22km north-west of Donetsk);
- an APC (MT-LB) near Yasnobrodivka (25km north-west of Donetsk);
- an IFV (BMP variant) beside a residential house and about 150m from a school in Popasna (69km west of Luhansk); and
- an APC (BTR-70) just north of the northern edge of the disengagement area near Stanytsia Luhanska (also seen on 4 July).
7 July
The SMM saw:
- an APC (BTR-70) near Orlivka;
- six APCs (BTR-70) and a towed gun (type undetermined) in and near Avdiivka;
- five IFVs (two BMP-1, two BMP-2 and one BTR-4) near Novobakhmutivka (28km north of Donetsk);
- three IFVs (two BMP-2 and one BMP variant) near Krasnohorivka (24km north of Donetsk); and
- 13 IFVs (seven BMP-2 and six BMP variants) near Kamianka (20km north of Donetsk).
Non-government-controlled areas
5 July
An SMM long-range UAV spotted:
- two ACVs and an IFV (BMP variant) near Pryshyb (34km north-west of Luhansk) and
- an IFV (BMP-1) near Dovhe (22km north-west of Luhansk).
6 July
An SMM long-range UAV spotted four IFVs (BMP-1) near Lobacheve.
Non-SMM UAV seen on three occasions in Popasna
On the evening of 6 July, while in Popasna, the SMM saw a white mini-UAV flying 10-50m over the SMM forward patrol base. During the day on 7 July, on two occasions, the SMM again saw a similar mini-UAV flying about 10m over the ground.
SMM facilitation of repairs and the operations of civilian infrastructure
On 6 July, the Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable assessments of a water conduit in Obozne (non-government-controlled, 18km north of Luhansk) and land plots corresponding to a water pipeline between Petropavlivka (government-controlled, 27km north of Luhansk) and Popasna, as well as repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk) and demining activities near Molodizhne (non-government-controlled, 63km north-west of Luhansk).
On 6 and 7 July, the SMM facilitated the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) (15km north of Donetsk) and continued to monitor the security situation in the area of the pumping station near Vasylivka (non-government-controlled, 20km north of Donetsk). On 7 July, while positioned near Yasynuvata (non-government-controlled, 16km north-east of Donetsk) and facilitating the operation of the DFS, the SMM heard 76 ceasefire violations, including six undetermined explosions, assessed as near the DFS, shortly after a bus of workers departed Yasynuvata for the DFS.
The SMM continued monitoring in Kherson, Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi and Kyiv.
*Restrictions of the 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 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, SMM Daily Report 29 June 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 6 July, at a checkpoint on the eastern edge of Shevchenko (non-government-controlled, 69km south of Donetsk), an armed member of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage westward toward Mykolaivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Mariupol), citing orders “not to allow the SMM to cross the checkpoint.”
- On 6 July, at a checkpoint on the eastern outskirts of Hryhorivka (non-government-controlled, 68km south of Donetsk), two members of the armed formations, one visibly armed, again denied the SMM passage to the village, citing orders “not to allow the SMM to enter.”
- On 6 July, at a checkpoint in Yuzhna Lomuvatka (non-government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk), two members of the armed formations, one visibly armed, denied the SMM passage west to Stepanivka (non-government-controlled, 62km west of Luhansk), citing their inability to contact their superiors for permission due to mobile network outages.
- On 7 July, at a checkpoint on the eastern outskirts of Oleksandrivske (formerly Rozy Liuksemburh, non-government-controlled, 90km south-east of Donetsk), two armed members of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage eastward to Markyne (non-government-controlled, 94km south of Donetsk), citing “ongoing demining activity.”
- On 7 July, at a checkpoint at the northern entrance to Novoazovsk (non-government-controlled, 40km east of Mariupol), two armed members of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage south to the town on two occasions, citing an “ongoing operation in the area.”
Regular restrictions related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:
- The sides continued to deny the SMM full access to 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.
Other impediments:
- During the evening of 5 July, an SMM long-range UAV experienced signal interference, assessed as probably caused by jamming, while flying over Kostiantynivka (government-controlled, 60km north of Donetsk) and Trokhizbenka (government-controlled, 32km north-west of Luhansk).[6]
[1] For a complete breakdown of ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table.
* 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] The Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) was established in September 2014 by Ukraine and the Russian Federation. Each posted a representative to jointly head the Centre and a staff of officers from the Ukrainian and Russian Federation Armed Forces to be co-located in defined sectors of Luhansk and Donetsk regions. In December 2017, Russian Federation Armed Forces officers withdrew from the JCCC and departed Ukraine.
[3]Disengagement is foreseen in the Framework Decision of the Trilateral Contact Group relating to disengagement of forces and hardware of 21 September 2016.
[4] 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.
[5] The hardware mentioned in this section is not proscribed by the provisions of the Minsk agreements on the withdrawal of weapons.
[6] The interference could have originated from anywhere within a radius of kilometres from the UAVs’ positions.