Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 26 July 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.
• A man was injured from a probable anti-tank mine while driving his tractor near Nikishyne.
• The SMM saw damage from shelling to a residential house in Nova Marivka. 
• The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to facilitate repairs and maintenance work to and the operation of critical civilian infrastructure, including to power lines and water pipelines.
• Restrictions of the SMM’s access continued, including in Nova Marivka and at checkpoints of the armed formations in Kreminets and near Verkhnoshyrokivske.*

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, however fewer explosions (five), compared with the previous reporting period (11 explosions). The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded at an assessed range of 0.3-1km south of the SMM camera at the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) (15km north of Donetsk) and in areas south of Pyshchevyk (government-controlled, 25km north-east of Mariupol).

In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded more ceasefire violations, including more explosions (21), compared with the previous reporting period (no explosions). Over half of the ceasefire violations were recorded in areas east-south-east of Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk).

Man injured from probable anti-tank mine near Nikishyne

On 26 July, medical staff at a hospital in Yenakiieve (non-government-controlled, 41km north-east of Donetsk) told the SMM that a man (in his thirties) had been admitted on 19 July with fractures in his right leg caused by an explosion of a possible anti-tank mine. On 27 July (outside the reporting period), the man told the SMM over the phone that he had been driving his tractor on the afternoon of 19 July on an unpaved road covered with vegetation near Nikishyne (non-government-controlled, 60km north-east of Donetsk) when he had heard a loud explosion. On 23 July, at the residence of the injured man in Olkhovatka (non-government-controlled, 52km north-east of Donetsk), the SMM saw damage, assessed as caused by a probable anti-tank mine (TM-62), to the wheels and chassis of a tractor, as well as parts of the tractor dismantled nearby. A friend of the abovementioned man, living in his same residence, told the SMM that he had found him lying on the road on 19 July with injuries to his right leg, and then drove him to the hospital in Yenakiieve.

Damage from shelling to a residential house in Nova Marivka

On 23 July, at a one-storey house on the main street in Nova Marivka (non-government-controlled, 64km south of Donetsk), the SMM saw that the west-facing wall and large parts of the asbestos plate roof had collapsed and at least five windows on the east-, north- and south-facing walls of the house were shattered. About 6m west of the house, the SMM saw that the asbestos plate roof and east-facing wall of a summer kitchen had collapsed, and at least two east-facing windows were shattered. The SMM assessed all of the abovementioned damage as recent and caused by a 152mm artillery round fired from a westerly direction. The SMM did not enter the property as a member of the armed formations present asked the Mission to leave the area.* Outside the house, the SMM saw a woman (in her forties) with injuries to her leg and hand who told the Mission that she had sustained the injuries after she had heard an explosion while at the abovementioned house on the night of 9 July.   

Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area

Inside the disengagement area near Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk) near the former forward position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces north of the broken section of the bridge, the SMM saw a crane and a truck, both stationary. The SMM saw a minivan with “Luhansk Oblast Roads” in Russian written on it and a trailer enter the disengagement area at the Ukrainian Armed Forces entry-exit checkpoint (EECP) with six men in civilian clothing inside. The same men then began collecting garbage along the road in the area between the EECP and the former forward position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as dismantling road signs on the western side of the road about 100m south of the aforementioned forward position. The SMM saw six members of the armed formations (wearing armbands with “JCCC” [2] written on them) inside the disengagement area, four near the checkpoint of the armed formations south of the bridge and two on the southern part of the broken section of the bridge.

In the afternoon, at the Ukrainian Armed Forces EECP, the SMM observed about 2,000 people queuing to exit government-controlled areas and about 80 people queuing to enter government-controlled areas. Near a shelter belonging to an international organization, the SMM saw that a woman (75-80 years old) had fainted and was being assisted by staff of the organization. The same staff told the SMM that more than 3,000 people in the past two weeks had visited their shelter to seek assistance for medical issues related to the hot weather.

At the checkpoint of the armed formations south of the bridge, on the same afternoon, the SMM saw about 50 people queueing to travel towards government-controlled areas and a steady flow of people crossing in the opposite direction.

Other disengagement areas[3]

On the evening of 25 July, positioned on the northern edge of Popasna, the SMM heard 21 undetermined explosions and about 190 bursts and shots of heavy-machine-gun and small-arms fire, at an assessed range of 3-7km east-south-east, assessed as outside the Zolote disengagement area but within its 5km periphery.

On 26 July, positioned close to the disengagement area near Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), the Mission 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.

Weapons that the SMM could not verify as withdrawn[5]

At a heavy weapons holding area in a government-controlled area of Luhansk region

26 July

The SMM noted that the site was abandoned and six multiple launch rocket systems (BM-21, Grad, 122mm) remained missing.

Weapons permanent storage site

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

26 July

The SMM noted that all weapons previously observed at the site were present.

Indications of military presence in the security zone[6]

Government-controlled areas

24 July

An SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted five infantry fighting vehicles (IFV) (BMP-2) in Slavne (26km south-west of Donetsk).

An SMM-mid-range UAV spotted:

• two armoured personnel carriers (a BTR-60 and a BTR-70) and an armoured reconnaissance vehicle (BRDM-2) near residential buildings and a trench digger (PZM-2) and two combat engineering vehicles (probable IMR-3) in a maintenance facility, all in Avdiivka (17km north of Donetsk); and
• an IFV (BMP-2) in a residential area of Vodiane (15km north-west of Donetsk).

25 July

An SMM long-range UAV spotted two probable armoured combat vehicles near Ozarianivka (formerly Pershe Travnia, 52km north of Donetsk).

26 July

The SMM saw an IFV (BTR-4) near Novobakhmutivka (28km north of Donetsk).

On the same day, the SMM saw a helicopter (possible MI-8 variant) flying in a northerly direction at an altitude of 60-70m about 2km north-east of Myrna Dolyna (67km north-west of Luhansk).

Recent craters spotted near Mineralne and probable cleared minefields near Slavne

On 24 July, an SMM mid-range UAV spotted about 12 recent craters, assessed as impacts of rounds of 30mm automatic grenade launcher (ASG-17) and 82mm mortar, near the forward positions of the armed formations about 2.5km north-west of Mineralne (non-government-controlled, 10km north-east of Donetsk).

On the same day, north-east of Slavne, an SMM mini-UAV spotted about 250 craters in a field north of a road and 30 craters in a field south of the same road about 120m from residential houses (not seen in imagery from 8 April 2019), spaced out in three lines running from north to south, assessed as former minefields that had been recently cleared.

SMM facilitation of repairs to civilian infrastructure

The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to power lines supporting the Petrivske pumping station near Artema (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk), power lines near Troitske (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk), water pipelines between Zolote-3/Stakhanovets (government-controlled, 61km west of Luhansk) and Popasna, a water pipeline near the EECP near Maiorsk (government-controlled, 45km north-east of Donetsk), the drilling of wells near Raivka (non-government-controlled, 16km north-west of Luhansk), as well as maintenance to the phenol sludge reservoir near Zalizne (formerly Artemove, government-controlled, 42km north-east of Donetsk).

The SMM also continued to facilitate the operation of the DFS and monitor the security situation in the area of the pumping station near Vasylivka (non-government-controlled, 20km north of Donetsk).

The Mission continued monitoring in Kherson, Odessa, Lviv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, 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 of 20 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.

Denials of access:

• At a checkpoint west of Verkhnoshyrokivske (formerly Oktiabr, non-government-controlled, 29km north-east of Mariupol), on two occasions, an armed member of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage, citing “demining activities” on the first occasion.
• At a checkpoint on the southern edge of Kreminets (non-government-controlled, 16km south-west of Donetsk), eight members of the armed formations denied the SMM passage south towards road H-15, citing a “special operation”.

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 23 July, while following up on reports of damage to a residential house in Nova Marivka (non-government-controlled, 64km south of Donetsk) a member of the armed formations told the SMM to leave the area, citing a “special operation” (see above).
• On 26 July, on seven occasions, SMM mini-UAVs experienced GPS signal interference, assessed as due to probable jamming, while flying over areas near Starohnativka (government-controlled, 51km south of Donetsk) and Troitske (government-controlled, 30km north of Donetsk).[7]

 

[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 SMM visited areas previously holding 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.

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

[7] The interference could have originated from anywhere within the radius of kilometres from the UAV’s position.