Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 9 February 2015

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). An explosion occurred in Kharkiv city.

The SMM conducted a patrol in the Kuibyshevskyi district of Donetsk city (5km west of Donetsk city centre, “Donetsk People’s Republic” “DPR”-controlled) where it observed damages at two sites which were, according to local residents, caused by shelling on 30 January and 6 February. At the first site located on Slovatskaya Street, the SMM observed substantial damage to a nine-storey residential building in the form of three direct shelling impacts at the top of the building, facing north. The building suffered broken windows and shrapnel impacts on the walls as did neighbouring buildings. The SMM also observed four craters on the ground, between 20m and 180m in front of the building. The SMM conducted two crater analyses – one on a crater in the common area 50m in front of the building and one on the playground of a nearby school, 150m north of the building. The SMM estimates that, in both cases the impacts resulted from a 120mm mortar round fired from a northerly direction.

The second site comprised a group of nine-storey apartment buildings located on Kuibysheva Street (300m north-west from the first site) where the SMM observed shattered windows and shrapnel marks on the buildings as well as two impacts located 20m away. The SMM estimated that both impacts were caused by 120mm mortar rounds but was not able to reach further conclusions from the craters. Residents of one of the buildings reported direct shelling impacts on the roof but the SMM could not verify this information.

While monitoring these sites on 9 February between 11:00hrs and 14:00hrs, the SMM heard 12 outgoing artillery rounds fired approximately 500m from the west of its position.

On 8 February, at approximately 23:00hrs the SMM heard and felt the blast of a substantial detonation west-north-west of its office in Donetsk. Multiple sources informed the SMM that the explosion occurred at the Ukroboronprom plant, which allegedly produces industrial explosives and military munitions. The SMM was not immediately able to access the site.

The SMM visited the JCCC headquarters temporarily relocated in Soledar (77km north of Donetsk, government-controlled) where it met the Russian Major-General, Representative of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to the JCCC and the Ukrainian Major-General, Head of the Ukrainian side to the JCCC, who were also joined by members of the “Lugansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”) and “DPR”. The Russian Major-General stated that the focus of the JCCC is currently the evacuation of civilian populations from zones where active fighting is taking place, including in Debaltseve (55km north-east of Donetsk, government-controlled) and Chornukhyne (63km north-east of Donetsk, 8km east of Debaltseve).  JCCC logs provided to the SMM indicated 96 recorded ceasefire violations from 08:00hrs on 8 February to 08:00hrs on 9 February – a decrease from 146 incidents recorded in the previous 24-hour reporting cycle.

Upon reaching the Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoint near Maiorsk (44km north of Donetsk, government-controlled) at 10:35hrs, the SMM was advised by the checkpoint personnel to turn around due to imminent shelling. The SMM retreated to approximately one kilometre shortly after which it heard ten outgoing artillery rounds estimated to be 82mm mortars fired from 500-1000m south-west of its position.

The SMM visited the Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoint located south of Artemivsk (66km north of Donetsk, government-controlled) where it observed waiting lines of up to a kilometre of people attempting to obtain a permit allowing them to cross into government-controlled territory. The majority of men and women the SMM spoke with were coming from Horlivka (35km north-east of Donetsk, “DPR”-controlled). The checkpoint commander said the lines had grown in the past days as the fighting escalated in the region.

The SMM visited Pavlopil (80km south of Donetsk, government-controlled) where it observed four houses that had suffered substantial damages allegedly from shelling on 4-7 February, as reported by the mayor. The SMM observed other craters in the area but could not conduct crater analysis due to the fresh snow.

In Novoselivka (63km south of Donetsk, government-controlled) the SMM observed artillery impacts including a severely damaged house which according to local residents were caused by shelling on 7 February at 23:45hrs. The SMM conducted two crater analyses based on which it estimates the impacts to have originated from an east-north-easterly direction. While on site, the SMM heard outgoing Grad shelling from the east as well as outgoing mortar fire from near Novoselivka. While in the adjacent village of Novoselivka Druha, the SMM heard outgoing Grad rocket fire approximately four kilometres to the east.

Ukrainian Armed Forces and Russian Federation Armed Forces senior officers at the JCCC office in Luhansk said to the SMM that they had no means of influencing the field commanders of armed groups from both sides with whom they lacked direct communication. They also informed about the JCCC’s existing logistical problems, including with vehicles and communications.

At 10:15hrs, the SMM heard in Bila Hora (78km west of Luhansk, government-controlled) heavy outgoing machine gun fire close to its position and outgoing Grad shelling from 10-15km south-west of its location.

While stationary, on the road between Novookhtyrka and Kapitanove (70km and 72km north-west of Luhansk, government-controlled), from 09:35hrs the SMM heard 30 minutes of continuous outgoing shelling estimated to be artillery and Grad originating from 7-10km to the south in a south-westerly direction. At approximately 2km north of Kapitanove, at 10:05hrs, the SMM heard unidentified continuous artillery firing from 7-10km away from the south-west.

At 10:30hrs, near Raihorodka (35km north-west of Luhansk, government-controlled) the SMM, heard intense Multi Launch Rocket System (MLRS), artillery and mortar shelling at about 5km to the south-west but was not able to specify whether it was outgoing or incoming. From 11:15hrs to 11:45hrs in Bakhmutivka (40km north-west of Luhansk, government-controlled), the SMM heard artillery, mortar and MLRS fire from about 10km to the south-west of its location but could not determine whether it was outgoing or incoming.

The SMM visited Otakar Yarosh Street in Kharkiv’s Dzerzhynskyi district where according to media reports an explosion had occurred on 8 February at 23:45hrs and observed damages to the entrance area as well as broken windows. The district police chief and the prosecutor’s office confirmed to the SMM that an investigation had been launched on terrorism charges and that there were no casualties.

The SMM monitored a protest in front of the regional police department in Lviv, organized by two trade unions and the non-governmental organization “Committee for Citizens' Rights Protection”. Around forty people, mostly men, attended and voiced their concerns over the alleged intimidation of union activists by law enforcement authorities. The police was present and the event ended peacefully.

The SMM observed that the roadblock, composed of tires that it had earlier noted (See SMM Daily Report of 8 February) in Tysiv (85km west of Ivano-Frankivsk) had been burnt down and abandoned. The head of the village council said to the SMM that on 8 February some 200 villagers had gathered to discuss mobilization with the district military commissioner, police and soldiers who have returned from the east.

The SMM observed two pickets organized in front of the Kyiv City Hall by “Save Kyiv Forum”, “Nazhdak”, “Kyiv Watch” associations and the “Svoboda” political party, protesting against the sharp increase of public transport costs. The first picket started at 10:00hrs and comprised around 20 persons, mostly men, and ended peacefully 45 minutes later. The second picket started at 12:00hrs and comprised approximately 60 people, mostly women. At 12:40hrs a group of 30-35 masked men who were unrelated to the pickets and would later identify themselves as "Worth Kyiv” arrived and started shouting pro-Ukrainian slogans. When they set fire to tires in front of the City Hall and attempted to block the entrance to the City Hall around 25 uniformed security personnel representing Kyiv-1 volunteer battalion used tear gas to disburse them. By 13:00hrs they had left the scene. The police was present but no arrests were made.

The situation in Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson, Odessa and Chernivtsi was calm.