Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time) 1 December 2014

This report is for media and the general public.

The SMM continued to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum and the work of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC). The SMM attempted to facilitate a ceasefire to connect Staromikhailivka (22km W of Donetsk) to electric power, but had to leave due to security reasons.

On 28 November the regional prosecutor’s office in Kharkiv confirmed to the SMM that two police officers suspected of planning to detonate a bomb in the Dzerjinskiy district police building in Kharkiv city had been detained on 23 November (see Daily Report 27 November).

The State Security Service (SBU), the regional prosecutor’s office and the chief of police of Valki (55km NW of Kharkiv) informed the SMM that 15 members of a group called “Partisans of Kharkiv People’s Republic”, suspected of having carried out bomb attacks at “Stena Rock Club” (see Daily Reports 11 November and 14 November) and at another location, had been detained. The arrests were attributed to a well-coordinated effort by the law enforcement agencies in the Kharkiv region.

Following the visit to the neuro-psychiatric hospital of Slovyanoserbsk (30km NW of Luhansk, under the control of the “Lugansk People’s Republic”, “LPR”) on 22 November, where it saw the dire condition of the facility (see Daily Report 23 November), the SMM facilitated the delivery of medicine and other medical supplies by Médecins Sans Frontières on 30 November.

The SMM met the “acting chief of police” of the “LPR”-controlled Artemivskyi district in Luhansk city. He informed the SMM that the reorganization of the “police forces” was still underway and recruitment was still ongoing. In the absence of the “prosecutor’s office” or “courts” the decision to initiate criminal procedures against a suspect lies with the “LPR” “chief of police”, he added.

The SMM met the head of the village council in government-controlled Bilolutsk (153km N of Luhansk) who said that the village currently hosted approximately 1,000 IDPs in addition to its approximately 4,000 local inhabitants. The vast majority of the IDPs originate from the Luhansk and Donetsk regions and are sheltered with relatives or in abandoned houses allocated to them by the council.

The SMM patrolled government-controlled Chermalyk (79km S of Donetsk) and Orlovske (72km S of Donetsk), in the vicinity of Mariupol. At 10:05hrs, while in Chermalyk, the SMM heard an exchange of artillery fire, estimated to be occurring NE to NW of the village at an unspecified distance. In Orlovske the SMM met a group of villagers who expressed their concerns over the lack of pension payments for several months and reported shelling in the village on 29 and 30 November. The SMM could not verify this information due to security reasons. The SMM observed that the Chermalyk-Mariupol bus had resumed its services and the bus driver confirmed that there were two trips daily (see Daily Report 28 November).

While visiting the JCCC Headquarters in Debaltseve (55km NE of Donetsk), the SMM observed that the incidents recorded in both the Ukrainian Army and Russian Federation logbooks matched. Some 70 incidents were recorded in the last 24 hours.

The SMM arrived in the frontline town of Staromikhailivka (22km W of Donetsk) at 10:07hrs to facilitate a local ceasefire and monitor the repair works on a power station damaged by shelling on 27 and 28 November. This repair work is critical to the villagers, as well as to the wider area, as the power station serves several mines and enterprises. By 10:10hrs the SMM heard two incoming artillery rounds that impacted 7km to the NE. At 10:21 the SMM heard an exchange of artillery fire between unspecified parties 5km to the west. By 10:45 the incoming artillery rounds were impacting at approximately 1km to the east of the SMM’s position; therefore the SMM left due to security concerns.

The SMM visited the JCCC in government-controlled Krasnohorivka (15km SW of Donetsk) and met two senior officers, one Ukrainian and one Russian. At 10:13hrs and while still at the JCCC the SMM heard outgoing rounds of 82mm mortar originating from approximately 200 meters to the east and impacting approximately 5km in the area of Staromykhailovka where the SMM also had a team monitoring the repair of the damaged power station (see above). The SMM immediately reminded the JCCC Ukrainian army officer that the SMM patrol in Staromykhailovka had been pre-arranged with the JCCC headquarters and requested that the fire cease immediately. The mortar fire stopped at 10:53hrs after 14 rounds had been fired; the SMM team in the JCCC was in constant contact with the SMM team in Staromikhailivka who confirmed that the shells landing 1km to the east of their location were consistent with the frequency of the outgoing rounds from Krasnohorivka.

The situation in Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson was calm.

The SMM monitored a demonstration of 30-40 activists of mixed gender and age in front of the Odessa regional prosecutor’s office, organized by the self-defense council of public security. The protestors demanded the resignation of the prosecutor general as well as the lustration of all prosecutors in Ukraine. The event was monitored by the police and ended peacefully.

The chief editor of the Chernivtsi-based “Chas” newspaper informed the SMM that two robberies had taken place at the newspaper’s premises on 22 and 27 November. “Chas” regularly publishes critical statements targeting members of the former government, the presence of Russian Sberbank in Chernivtsi and the financial participation of a Russian citizen in the regional electricity provider “Oblenergo”. The Chernivtsi police said to the SMM that they were investigating the “Chas” incident, but that there had been other robberies in the building housing “Chas”.

The situation in Ivano-Frankivsk was calm.

The SMM monitored a gathering of some 200 mostly elderly people of mixed gender in Lviv on the anniversary of Maidan. The speakers addressed newly elected political leaders and protested against the influence of the Russian Federation (RF) in Ukraine. The students ended the event by reading out a declaration addressed to the president, head of parliament and the prime minister of Ukraine which included a call for justice related to those who died during the Maidan events a year ago and for the cessation of economic ties with the RF. Police were not present at the event which ended peacefully.

The situation in Kyiv was calm.