Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 20 November 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 activities of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC).

At 17:50 hrs a bomb explosion occurred in Kharkiv’s Trinklera Street in the vicinity of Gorky Park. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) informed the SMM immediately after the explosion and representatives of the SBU went to the site along with other law enforcement units. The explosion occurred at an electric substation transformer located in Trinklera Street near the military hospital. There were no casualties. The SMM visited the site later and observed glass blown out across the street from the back of the hospital where the transformer is located. An investigation was launched by the police.

The SMM monitored a meeting in Luhansk with the participation of the Ukrainian head of the JCCC,  the chief of staff of the Russian Representation in south-east Ukraine and members of the  “Lugansk People’s Republic”.  They had an inconclusive discussion on what exactly constituted a ceasefire violation and the possible postponement of the third phase (disengagement) of the Generals’ agreement of 13 November. (See SMM Daily Report of 14 November.)

In Starobilsk (96 km north of Luhansk) Ukrainian and Russian JCCC members said that they had not implemented any activity recently due to a lack of mandate, of transport and an Internet connection.

The SMM monitored JCCC activity in the headquarters in Debaltseve (55 km north-east of Donetsk) and Starobilsk (85 km north-west of Luhansk). In Debaltseve, at 10:45 hrs, the SMM heard numerous incoming artillery rounds originating from the north-east. Ukrainian and Russian officers agreed that these were fired from Yenakiyeve (40 km north-east of Donetsk). At 11:00 hrs the SMM heard outgoing rounds emanating from the western outskirts of Debaltseve. At 12:00 hrs shelling resumed and continued for 20 minutes. Ukrainian and Russian members of the JCCC said that the area of Fashchivka (15 km south-east of Debaltseve) was being shelled but they did not know from where.

In government-controlled Novohrodivka (40 km north-west of Donetsk), the SMM met the secretary of the city council and the chief of staff who both expressed concerns over the city’s deficit. The SMM also met the editor-in-chief of the local newspaper, “Regionalnye Vesti” who voiced concerns regarding Cabinet Resolution No. 595 of 7 November 2014, which restricts pension payments to individuals with a permanent residence in government-held areas. She stressed that the related administrative procedure is in the Ukrainian language which represents an obstacle to the elderly population of the region.

In Donetsk city the overall situation was tense with sporadic shelling in the northern outskirts during the day and late afternoon.

The SMM monitored the ongoing process for the removal of aircraft wreckage from the MH17 crash site in Grabovo (58 km east of Donetsk) and Razsipnoye (80 km east of Donetsk).

The SMM patrolled five Ukrainian-controlled checkpoints (checkpoints 10, 12, 13, 14 and 15) to the east and north-east of Mariupol where the situation was calm. While at checkpoint 12 in Hnutove (85 km south of Donetsk), at 10:20hrs, the SMM heard two explosions to the east in the direction of Kominternove but could not determine their origin.

The situation in Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Odesa was calm.

The SMM met the head of the Chernivtsi district police, who stated that a public safety council had been created to improve police services. The council is composed of businesses, local government, community leaders, pensioners and former public safety officials. The interlocutor said that the number of violent crimes registered this year had decreased in comparison to the year before.

The SMM met the Deputy Consul General of Hungary in Uzhhorod (257 km south-west of Ivano-Frankivsk). He stated that the 20 per cent turnout by ethnic Hungarian voters at the recent parliamentary elections was well below the overall turnout of 50 per cent for Transcarpathia.

In Kyiv the SMM monitored a picket in front of the Embassy of the Russian Federation, organized by journalist Irma Krat, Automaidan and the “Right Sector”. Some 20 picketers, mainly women representing relatives of people missing or deceased in the east, protested for the release of hostages, the withdrawal of the Russian Federation from the occupied areas of Ukraine and the return of Crimea. The picket was monitored by the police and ended peacefully.

The SMM attended a press conference by three senior members of the “Donbas” volunteer battalion who announced the establishment of a countrywide non-governmental organization, the Military and Patriotic Association of Participants of the Anti-Terrorism Operation – “Spravedlivist (Justice)”. It consists of military personnel, voluntary battalion members, activists, representatives of the public and entrepreneurs and aims at fighting corruption of public officials at all levels of the administration.