Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 27 November 2014

This report is for media and the general public.

The SMM continued to monitor the situation in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, focusing on the implementation of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum. The SMM recorded numerous shelling instances across Donbas. The deputy rector of Donetsk National University in Vinnytsya told the SMM that the university had been re-located from Donetsk.

The situation remained calm in Kharkiv.

Whilst in government-controlled Teple (33 km north-east of Luhansk), the SMM heard numerous artillery explosions, which it assessed to have impacted in government-controlled Shchastya (23 km north of Luhansk). The rounds appeared to have originated from Stanytsia-Luhanska (25 km north-north-east of Luhansk), which is controlled by the “Lugansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”).

The head of the hospital in “LPR”-controlled Krasnodon (48 km south-east of Luhansk) told the SMM that staff had not been paid since July, with less than half of the pre-conflict number of doctors and two-thirds of nurses remaining on duty. He said the hospital had requested that the “LPR” provide funding in 2015.

When it was in government-controlled Mykhailyuky (35 km north of Luhansk) on 26 November, the SMM heard at least six explosions, assessed to have been artillery rounds impacting approximately 10 km to the south in Shchastya.

The SMM visited offices of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) in Olenivka, Soledar and Svitlodarsk (20 km south-west, 55 km north-east, and 77 km north of Donetsk, respectively). In Olenivka, Ukrainian and Russian officers of the Ukrainian and Russian General Staffs said that they kept an incident log book but had no vehicle, no map of the local area, and insufficient personal protective equipment, so had not yet carried out any joint patrols. They nonetheless reported daily shelling near their location. The SMM also visited the JCCC headquarters in Debaltseve (55 km north-east of Donetsk). Ukrainian and Russian officers there indicated the same number of ceasefire violations in their daily incident logs.

The head of the Village Council and 15 residents of government-controlled Pavlopil (32 km north-east of Mariupol) each told the SMM that relatives of theirs had been injured in shelling of the village. The SMM heard several explosions from a location it assessed to be approximately five kilometres to the south. Later, when passing through a Ukrainian military checkpoint five kilometres to the south of the village, the SMM observed Ukrainian soldiers positioning themselves in trenches.

The SMM observed two homes completely destroyed by what it assessed to be Grad rockets in government-controlled Petrun'ky (27 km north of Donetsk). The head of the local ambulatory told the SMM that the shelling had happened in the early hours of 26 November.

On 26 and 27 November, the SMM visited a number of locations – all in a one square kilometre area in the north-west of Donetsk city – where it noted numerous crater impacts and varying degrees of damage. At one location it visited on 27 November, the SMM was told by interlocutors at the scene that a teenage girl and a woman had been killed earlier that day. Although the SMM noted blood stains at the scene, it could not confirm the information. At another location, one interlocutor told the SMM on 26 November that irregular armed forces of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”) – positioned in a nearby building – had been firing shells at government troops at the airport to the north. The SMM noted a crater outside the building. At another location, the SMM was forced to withdraw because of incoming shells impacting 400 metres from its position. At another location the SMM heard multiple outgoing Grad rocket rounds.

The SMM – whilst in government-controlled Volnovakha (60 km south-south-west of Donetsk) – heard two explosions 5-7 km north-east of the village.

The SMM visited the border-crossing point at Uspenka (70 km south-east of Donetsk), where it met the “DPR head of Border Control” in control of three Ukrainian state border-crossing points in Marynivka (75 km east of Donetsk), Uspenka and Novoazovsk (100 km south-south-east of Donetsk). He told the SMM that no humanitarian or military convoys had passed through the border at these locations. The SMM observed approximately 50 civilian vehicles waiting to cross into the Russian Federation.

At a location 15km east of Donetsk, the SMM observed a convoy of 19 military fuel tankers and eight military trucks, with a civilian vehicle with “DPR” on the number plates at the rear and front of the convoy. Three armed men in green military-style uniform (without insignia) were in each of the civilian vehicles.

On 26 November the SMM met the head of the Firearms Department within the Regional Police in Dnipropetrovsk. He explained that there are 52,480 individuals in the region authorized to possess firearms, 31,000 of whom are members of hunting or fishing clubs. He said a nationwide database registered the gun-owners and places of residence.

The situation remained calm in Kherson and Odesa.

The SMM observed a small demonstration – consisting of five elderly people – outside the regional administration building in Vinnytsya (300 km north-east of Chernivtsi). One of the protesters told the SMM that they were calling for the lustration of the head of healthcare at the regional administration building. Eight uniformed police officers were in attendance. Later in the afternoon, the SMM observed that the entrance to the building had been sealed off and 10-15 officers, with two squad cars and a fire engine were positioned outside. Police subsequently told the SMM that a hoax bomb alert had been received.

One of the deputy rectors of the re-located Donetsk National University in Vinnytsya told the SMM that the university had re-opened on 3 November. The deputy rector said some technical faculties were still operating to some extent in Donetsk, but the degrees and diplomas issued would have no legal standing. He said that 70 per cent of the staff had transferred to Vinnytsya and 7,000 students were enrolled, although most of them had still not re-located to Vinnytsya and were engaged in distance-learning. Currently more than 200 students live in the university dormitory, but the deputy rector expected 4,000 eventually. Currently, there are 400 places available.

In the third of a series of roundtable discussions in Ivano-Frankivsk, the head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Customs Office and volunteers and NGOs engaged in bringing in humanitarian aid from abroad discussed ways to improve customs clearance procedures for aid deliveries. The volunteers recommended that a special status be granted to volunteers, allowing exemption from customs procedures and fees.

The situation remained calm in Lviv.

The SMM observed 600 men and women protesting outside the first post-election session of Parliament in Kyiv. Some of those present complained that little had changed following the Maidan protests or the recent elections, with the same people continuing to hold economic and political power. Participants called for good governance, reform and anti-corruption measures. Approximately 600 anti-riot police officers were present. The protesters peacefully dispersed after three hours.