Daily and spot reports from the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

The SMM continued to monitor the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions focusing on the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol/Memorandum. In Kyiv, in a large demonstration, protesters threatened the authorities with a “New Maidan” after the Central Election Commission refused to register members of the “Volya” party for the upcoming parliamentary elections...

The SMM observed the situation in Donbas, with a particular focus on implementation of the provisions of the Memorandum signed on 19 September in Minsk. It also continued to monitor the situation of IDPs...

The SMM noted a number of instances of artillery fire in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. The SMM on 21 September met the leader of an irregular armed group – a self-styled Cossack commander – in Pervomais’k (70km north-west of Luhansk city). He insisted on being told in advance of any future SMM visit to territory controlled by him, saying the SMM’s security could not be guaranteed otherwise. The “Lugansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”) has previously told the SMM that the “commander” in question is not under the command or control of the “LPR”. (See Daily Report 139/2014)

The SMM continued to monitor the full range of issues within its mandate, with a particular focus on compliance with the provisions of the memorandum signed on 19 September in Minsk. It also observed rallies in Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and Odessa against the Russian Federation’s policy towards Ukraine...

The SMM continued to monitor the non-use of weapons provision of the Minsk Protocol, noting sporadic shelling around Donetsk and Mariupol cities, and in an area west of Luhansk city. Elsewhere in Donbas, however, calm prevailed, most notably in Luhansk city, where, in addition to a cessation of violence, normal services are beginning to be restored...

The SMM continued to carry out activities related to the monitoring of non-use of weapons in areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Interlocutors from the Crimean Tatar community informed the SMM that the building of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People in Simferopol had been searched by Russian Security Services...

The situation in Donetsk and Luhansk continues to be tense. The main power plant in the Luhansk region was severely damaged as a result of shelling...