OSCE SMM Chief Monitor informs Permanent Council about concerning developments in eastern Ukraine

KYIV, 22 April 2021 – While ceasefire violations remain below the level observed before the measures to strengthen the ceasefire entered into force on 27 July 2020, Ambassador Y. Halit Çevik, Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, said today there are a number of trends that give cause for concern.

In an online address to the OSCE Permanent Council, Çevik stated that the SMM had observed intensification and “a broadening of kinetic activities along the contact line,” and increased numbers of civilian casualties and damaged or destroyed civilian infrastructure. “Each casualty devastates families and communities, and furthermore inflames tensions, contributing to cycles of violence that undermine political efforts to contain the situation,” he said.

The Chief Monitor emphasized that even though the SMM had reinforced its facilitation efforts, this could not substitute the sides’ commitment to take the necessary steps to fully implement the measures to strengthen the ceasefire. “There is no third party enforcement mechanism for ceasefire implementation,” he added.

As these developments unfold, the Mission is facing near-unprecedented restrictions and impediments to its ability to operate, many of which appear both deliberate and targeted. “These increasingly severe constraints limit the Mission’s ability to resupply, to operate, and provide impartial facts at a time when this could not be more important,” Çevik said. “In this period, as the eyes and ears of this Council, the SMM’s role is all the more critical.”