Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 29 April 2019

This report is for the media and the general public.

Summary

• Compared with the previous 24 hours, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in both Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
• The SMM saw weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in non-government-controlled areas of Luhansk region.
• The SMM saw unexploded ordnance in Kadiivka and new mine hazard signs near Novoluhanske and Debaltseve.
• The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to essential civilian infrastructure and facilitated the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station.
• Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The SMM was also restricted at a checkpoint of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Zolote-3/Stakhanovets and at checkpoints of the armed formations near Yasynuvata and Verkhnoshyrokivske.*

Ceasefire violations[1]

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including more explosions (about 120), compared with the previous 24 hours (about 20 explosions). Over half of ceasefire violations were recorded in areas south and south-south-east of Chermalyk (government-controlled, 31km north-east of Mariupol) and nearly half of the explosions were recorded in areas north-west of Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk). On the evening and night of 28-29 April, the SMM camera at the Donetsk Filtration Station (DFS) (15km north of Donetsk) recorded 38 projectiles in flight, nine undetermined explosions, and three muzzle flashes at a range of 100-800m south and south-south-west.

In Luhansk region, the Mission recorded slightly more ceasefire violations, but the same number of explosions (one), compared with the previous 24 hours. All of the ceasefire violations were recorded close to the disengagement area near Zolote (government-controlled, 60km west of Luhansk) and south-south-west of Kriakivka (government-controlled, 38km north-west of Luhansk).

Disengagement areas[2]

On the evening of 28 April, the SMM camera in Zolote recorded 17 projectiles in flight at an assessed range of 4-6km south, assessed as outside the disengagement area (within 5km of its periphery).

Positioned inside the disengagement area near Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk) and near the disengagement area close to Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), the SMM observed calm situations.[3]

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 in violation of withdrawal lines

Non-government-controlled areas

27 April

An SMM mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted:

• five self-propelled howitzers (2S1 Gvozdika, 122mm) in a training area near Shymshynivka (27km south-west of Luhansk) (for previous observations in the area, see SMM Daily Report of 26 April 2019);
• three tanks (T-72) near Kalynove (60km west of Luhansk); and
• two self-propelled howitzers (2S1) near Zbirne (19km south-west of Luhansk).

28 April

An SMM mini-UAV spotted:

• 13 self-propelled howitzers (2S1), 12 towed howitzers (D-30 Lyagushka, 122mm) and five anti-tank guns (MT-12 Rapira, 100mm) in a training area near Buhaivka (37km south-west of Luhansk) (for previous observations in the area, see SMM Daily Report of 25 April 2019); and
• a towed howitzer (D-30) and an anti-tank gun (MT-12) near Perevalsk (38km west of Luhansk).

Weapons beyond withdrawal lines but outside storage sites

Non-government-controlled areas

27 April

An SMM mini-UAV spotted 11 tanks (T-72) and two anti-tank guns (MT-12) in a training area near Shymshynivka (see above).

28 April

An SMM mini-UAV spotted:

• 18 tanks (T-64), ten towed mortars (120mm) and four surface-to-air-missile systems (9K35 Strela-10) in a training area near Buhaivka (see above); and
• two tanks (T-64) near Perevalsk.

Indications of military and military-type presence in the security zone[4]

Government-controlled areas

29 April

The SMM saw:

• an armoured personnel carrier (APC) (BTR-80) and an anti-aircraft gun (ZU-23, 23mm) in Muratove  (51km north-west of Luhansk) and
• an APC (BTR-60) near Mykolaivka (40km south of Donetsk).

Non-government-controlled areas

27 April

An SMM mini-UAV spotted an armoured combat vehicle (type undetermined) near Kalynove.

Unexploded ordnance in Kadiivka and new mine hazard signs near Novoluhanske and Debaltseve

On 29 April, the SMM saw a piece of unexploded ordnance (UXO) about 1.5m west of road T-0504 and about 30m north of residential buildings in Kadiivka (formerly Stakhanov, non-government-controlled, 50km west of Luhansk), assessed as a 30mm round (of an undetermined weapon).

On 28 April, the SMM saw for the first time two mine hazard signs on wooden stakes with “Dangerous - Mines” written in Russian and Ukrainian near a former checkpoint of the Ukrainian Armed Forces about 2km north of Novoluhanske (government-controlled, 53km north-east of Donetsk) on the east side of a road leading to Semyhiria (government-controlled, 58km north-east of Donetsk). On 29 April, the SMM saw for the first time a wooden sign with “Mines – Driving Prohibited” written in Russian, on the north-eastern edge of road M03 near Debaltseve (non-government-controlled, 58km north-east of Donetsk).

SMM facilitation of repairs to civilian infrastructure

The Mission facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to the Petrivske pumping station near Artema (government-controlled, 26km north of Luhansk) and to a water pipeline between Zolote-3/Stakhanovets (government-controlled, 61km west of Luhansk) and Popasna (government-controlled, 69km west of Luhansk). The SMM also monitored the security situation in the area of the pumping station near Vasylivka (non-government-controlled, 20km north of Donetsk) and facilitated the operation of the DFS.

The SMM continued monitoring in Kherson, Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Chernivtsi and Kyiv.

*Restrictions of 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 Joint Centre on Control and Coordination 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, see SMM Daily Report 29 April 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:

• On 29 April, at a checkpoint in Zolote-3/Stakhanovets (government-controlled, 61km west of Luhansk), Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel denied the SMM passage on a road leading towards Katerynivka (government-controlled, 64km west of Luhansk) and the disengagement area near Zolote, citing orders from superiors.
• At a checkpoint north-west of Yasynuvata (non-government-controlled, 16km north-east of Donetsk), three members of the armed formations (one armed) denied the SMM passage on road M-04 past the entrance to a road leading to the Vasylivka pumping station, citing orders from superiors.
• On three occasions at a checkpoint of the armed formations about 600m west of Verkhnoshyrokivske (formerly Oktiabr, non-government-controlled, 29km north-east of Mariupol), members of the armed formations again denied the SMM passage, thus preventing it from proceeding eastward, twice citing orders from superiors and once following the SMM’s refusal to show its patrol plan.

Regular restrictions related to disengagement areas and mines/UXO:

• The sides continued to deny the SMM full access to the three 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.

[1] Please see the annexed table for a complete breakdown of the ceasefire violations as well as a map of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions marked with locations featured in this report. During the reporting period, the SMM camera at Oktiabr mine (non-government-controlled, 9km north-west of Donetsk city centre) was not operational.

[2]Disengagement is foreseen in the Framework Decision of the Trilateral Contact Group relating to disengagement of forces and hardware of 21 September 2016.

[3] Due to the presence of mines, including on a road between Bohdanivka and Petrivske, the SMM cannot access its camera in Petrivske, and thus the SMM has not been able to access observations from the camera since 22 June 2018.

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