Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 15 July 2019

This report is for the media and the general public. 

Summary

• Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• The SMM saw fresh damage caused by gunfire to civilian properties in Dokuchaievsk and Marinka.
• Inside the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area, the SMM continued to observe demining activities; it also observed that a shuttle bus service had been introduced to transport people from an area south of the entry-exit checkpoint to the broken section of the bridge and in opposite direction.
• It saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line.
• The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs of critical civilian infrastructure on both sides of the contact line, including to water pipelines in government-controlled Artema and power lines in non-government-controlled Zolote-5/Mykhailivka.
• Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including at checkpoints near Zaichenko, Bezimenne and Novoazovsk, all in non-government-controlled areas of southern Donetsk region.*

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 60 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours (about 40 explosions). The highest number of ceasefire violations were recorded at southerly directions of Chermalyk (government-controlled, 31km north-east of Mariupol).

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 205 explosions, compared with the previous 24 hours (one explosion). The majority of ceasefire violations, including the majority of explosions, were recorded at south-easterly directions of Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk).

Fresh damage to civilian properties caused by small-arms fire in Dokuchaievsk

Inside an apartment on the fourth floor of a five-storey building at 91 Tsentralna Street in Dokuchaievsk (non-government-controlled, 30km south-west of Donetsk), the SMM saw a hole in a south-facing window, a corresponding hole in the edge of a wall next to the window and two corresponding holes on both sides of a nearby refrigerator. The SMM assessed all the damage as fresh and caused by a bullet (the SMM could not assess the type of weapon used). A resident (a woman, aged 37) of the apartment told the SMM that she had been inside it with her husband and their three children on the evening of 13 July, when she had seen a bullet penetrating one of the windows.

In the same neighbourhood, inside an apartment on the second floor of a five-storey building at 9 Vatutina Street, the SMM saw a shattered north-west-facing window and five holes in the opposite wall. The SMM assessed the damage as fresh and caused by rounds from heavy machine-gun. A resident (a woman, aged 64) of the apartment told the SMM that she had been inside it when she had heard the window break on the evening of 14 July.

On a glass-framed balcony of an apartment on the first floor of a five-storey building at 11 Vatutina Street, the SMM saw a hole in a north-east-facing outer window, another hole in an inner window of the same balcony, as well as a fresh hole in a wall opposite the latter window. The SMM assessed the damage as fresh and caused by a round from heavy machine-gun. A resident (a woman, aged 60) of the apartment told the SMM that she had been present inside it when she had heard the sound of glass breaking at around 18:30 on 13 July.

Inside an apartment on the fourth floor of a five-storey house at 13 Vatutina Street, the SMM saw a hole in a plastic windowsill under a south-facing window, assessed as fresh and caused by a round from heavy-machine-gun.

A house sustained fresh damage caused by gunfire in Marinka

In Marinka (government-controlled, 23km south-west of Donetsk), the SMM saw a hole in a north-facing façade of a one-storey building at 3 Nova Street and another hole in the east-facing wooden wall of a shed 2-3m north-east of the house. The SMM assessed the damage as fresh and caused by (30mm) rounds.

Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area

On 12 July, inside the disengagement area, an SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted for the first time a CCTV camera (not seen in imagery from 30 June 2019) near former positions of the armed formations, about 950m east of its western edge and 600m north of its southern edge. On 14 July, an SMM mini-UAV spotted a metallic triangular-framed mast with a camera installed atop (not seen in imagery from 14 June 2019), about 340m north-west of the former positions of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near the railway bridge about 650m east-north-east of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge (15km north-east of Luhansk).

On 15 July, inside the disengagement area, the SMM observed seven members of the State Emergency Services (SES) conducting demining activities around 20-70m east of the former forward position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces north of the broken section of the Stanytsia Luhanska bridge. The SMM observed for the first time areas cordoned off with red and white tape tied to wooden poles in a field about 50-100m east of the road, around 170m south of the area’s northern edge.

The SMM also observed a bus transporting people from an area about 250m south of the entry-exit checkpoint (EECP) to the broken section of the bridge (for an approximate distance of 700m). The SMM saw that the bus had an average of 50 people on board and that it left about every 20-30min, returning with an approximately similar number of passengers on board. The driver of the bus told the SMM that the newly introduced shuttle bus service provided free-of-charge transportation for all starting from 15 July. He also said that the bus had a capacity of 21 seats and 32 additional standing places and that there was no fixed time schedule for departures and arrivals (it left when all seats and standing places had been filled). The SMM also noted that many people were still walking towards government-controlled areas and in the opposite direction.

On the same day, between the former forward position of the armed formations south of the wooden ramps and their checkpoint south of the bridge, the SMM saw up to six members of the armed formations wearing “JCCC” armbands.[2]

Other disengagement areas[3]

On the evening and night of 14-15 July, the SMM camera in Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) recorded a projectile in flight at an assessed range of 2-3km south-south-east (assessed as inside the disengagement area), 18 projectiles at an assessed range of 1-4km south-east and south-south-east (unable to be assessed as inside or outside the area), as well as an undermined explosion and 17 projectiles at an assessed range of 1-4km east-north-east, south-south-west and south-west (all assessed as outside the area but within 5km of its periphery).

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

13 July

An SMM long-range UAV spotted a surface-to-air missile system (9K35 Strela-10) near Novoselivka Druha (69km south of Donetsk).

14 July

An SMM long-range UAV spotted two towed howitzers (D-30 Lyagushka, 122mm) near Ozarianivka (formerly Pershe Travnia, 52km north of Donetsk).

Non-government-controlled areas

13 July

An SMM long-range UAV spotted a surface-to-air missile system (9K35) near Bezimenne (30km east of Mariupol).

14 July

An SMM long-range UAV spotted two self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) near Perevalsk (38km west of Luhansk).

Beyond withdrawal lines but outside of designated storage sites

Non-government-controlled areas

14 July

An SMM long-range UAV spotted three tanks (T-64) near Perevalsk.

15 July

The SMM saw two tanks (T-72) near Kruhlyk (31km south-west of Luhansk).

Weapons storage sites

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

15 July

The SMM could not verify all weapons previously declared as withdrawn which were present at the site.

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

Government-controlled areas

13 July

An SMM mini-UAV spotted:

• three self-propelled anti-aircraft gun systems (ZU-234, 23mm) near Vynohradne (10km east of Mariupol) and
• two armoured combat vehicles (ACV) near Druzhba (75km west of Luhansk).

An SMM long-range UAV spotted:

• an infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) (BMP-2) near Krasnohorivka (21km west of Donetsk);
• three IFVs (BMP-1) near Novoselivka Druha (see above); and
• an IFV (type unidentified) near Berezove (31km south-west of Donetsk).

15 July

The SMM saw:

• an IFV parked beside a house in a residential area, less than 150m from a school in Popasna;
• an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (BTR-70) near Stanytsia Luhanska (16km north-east of Luhansk);
• three APCs (BTR-80) near Voitove (33km north-west of Luhansk); and
• a man wearing camouflaged clothing operating a device and landing a UAV (quadcopter, grey colour) near the vehicle on road T-0504 on the eastern edge of Popasna.

Non-government-controlled areas

13 July

An SMM mini-UAV spotted fresh damage, assessed as caused by a (120mm) mortar round to a recently built position assessed as belonging to the armed formations west of Molodizhne (63km west of Luhansk) (not visible in imagery from 7 July 2019).

An SMM long-range UAV spotted:

• an IFV (BMP-1) and three probable APCs (BTR variants) near Novoazovsk (40km east of Mariupol); and
• two IFVs (BMP-2) and three APCs (two BTR-80 and one MT-LB) near Bezimenne (30km east of Mariupol).

Presence of mine hazard signs near Novomykhailivka and demining activities in Slavne

The SMM saw for the first time two mine hazard signs (red squares with “Danger mines” in both Ukrainian and English) about 3km north-east of Novomykhailivka (government-controlled, 28km south-west of Donetsk), approximately 3m east of road O-0531. On 13 July, an SMM mini-UAV spotted for the first time a tailfin from an exploded (120mm) mortar round, stuck in the middle of road T-0504 about 1.5km west of Molodizhne. The SMM saw a Ukrainian Armed Forces demining team conducting demining activities in fields east and south of Slavne (government-controlled 26km south-west of Donetsk).

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), to a water pipeline between Zolote-3/Stakhanovets (government-controlled, 61km west of Luhansk) and Popasna, as well as to power lines in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk). The SMM also continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station (15km north of Donetsk) and monitor the security situation in the area of the pumping station near Vasylivka (non-government-controlled, 20km north of Donetsk).

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, 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 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 15 July 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:

• At a checkpoint about 2.5km west of Bezimenne (non-government-controlled, 30km east of Mariupol), two members of the armed formations denied the SMM passage westwards.
• At a checkpoint about 600m north of Zaichenko (non-government-controlled, 26km north-east of Mariupol), two armed members of the armed formations denied the SMM passage southwards to Sakhanka (non-government-controlled, 24km north-east of Mariupol) and westwards to Pikuzy (formerly Kominternove, non-government-controlled, 23km north-east of Mariupol).
• At the checkpoint at the northern edge of Novoazovsk (non-government-controlled, 40km east of Mariupol), an armed member of the armed denied the SMM passage southwards, citing an “ongoing antiterrorist 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:

• On the evening and night of 13-14 July, an SMM long-range UAV experienced signal interference, assessed as caused by jamming while flying over areas in government-and non-government-controlled areas of northern and southern Donetsk region.[5]
• On the evening and night of 14-15 July, an SMM long-range UAV experienced dual GPS signal interference, assessed caused by jamming, while flying over Pleshchiivka (government-controlled, 51km north of Donetsk) and Vuhlehirsk (non-government-controlled, 49km north-east of Donetsk).[6]
• On 15 July, SMM mini-UAVs experienced signal interference assessed as probably caused by jamming while flying over areas near Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 21km south of Donetsk) on two occasions, and near Solodke (government-controlled, 33km south-west of Donetsk) on one occasion.
• On 15 July, an SMM mid-range UAV experienced signal interference assessed as probably caused by jamming while flying over an area near Solodke (government-controlled, 33km south-west of Donetsk).

[1] For a complete breakdown of ceasefire violations, please see the annexed table.

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

[5] The interference could have originated from anywhere within a radius of kilometres from the UAVs’ positions.

[6] ibid.