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Ukraine

Latest from the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), based on information received as of 19:30, 22 November 2018

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This report is for the media and the general public.

Summary

  • Compared with the previous reporting period, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and fewer in Luhansk region.
  • The Mission followed up on a civilian injured by small-arms fire in Olenivka.
  • It observed fresh damage caused by shelling in a residential area of Zolote-5/ Mykhailivka.
  • The SMM observed military presence inside the Zolote disengagement area and recorded ceasefire violations while positioned near the Stanytsia Luhanska disengagement area.
  • The Mission observed weapons in violation of withdrawal lines in government-controlled areas.
  • It facilitated and monitored adherence to the ceasefire to enable repairs to critical infrastructure in Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
  • The SMM’s access remained restricted in all three disengagement areas; it was also restricted at a compound in Starohnativka.*
  • It monitored delays for civilians at entry-exit checkpoints along the contact line.
  • The Mission observed a convoy of trucks labelled “Humanitarian Aid from the Russian Federation” in Luhansk city.

Ceasefire violations

In Donetsk region, the SMM recorded more ceasefire violations, including about 60 explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (about 20 explosions). About one-third of the ceasefire violations were recorded in areas north-east of Mariupol.

In Luhansk region, the SMM recorded fewer ceasefire violations, including three explosions, compared with the previous reporting period (four explosions).

Civilian injured from small-arms fire

The SMM followed up on reports of a civilian injured by small-arms fire in Olenivka (non-government-controlled, 23km south-west of Donetsk). At the hospital in Dokuchaievsk (non-government-controlled, 30km south-west of Donetsk), the SMM saw a man (62 years old) with a bandaged upper right leg. He told the SMM that on 21 November, he had been walking from a shop on Chapaieva Street to his home when he had felt pain in his right hip and then collapsed after hearing small-arms fire. Medical staff at the hospital told the SMM that the man had been admitted on 21 November with a wound to his right hip that they had assessed was caused by a 7.62mm bullet.

Fresh damage caused by shelling in a residential area

At 8 Lizy Chaikinoi Street in Zolote-5/Mykhailivka (non-government-controlled, 58km west of Luhansk), on 20 November, the SMM saw a broken north-facing window and at least four holes about 10-15cm in diameter in three other north-facing windows on the second floor of a two-storey apartment building. The SMM assessed this damage as fresh and caused by shelling. Two local residents (man, about 30 years old and woman, about 50 years old) told the SMM that shelling had occurred in the area on the evening of 19 November and had damaged the abovementioned property.

Disengagement areas

Inside the disengagement area near Zolote (60km west of Luhansk), on 21 November, an SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) (BMP-1) about 300m east of road T1316 and about 50m south of the railway tracks, assessed as belonging to the Ukrainian Armed Forces (see SMM Daily Report 20 November 2018). On 22 November, the SMM saw two Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers in a military truck travelling west inside the Zolote disengagement area on the north-eastern edge of Katerynivka (government-controlled, 64km west of Luhansk).

On 21 November, positioned on the eastern edge of Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk), the SMM heard seven shots of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 3-5km south-south-west (unable to assess whether inside or outside the disengagement area).

On 22 November, positioned near Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), the SMM observed a calm situation.

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.

In violation of the withdrawal lines

Government-controlled areas:

21 November:

An SMM long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) spotted:

a towed howitzer (2A36 Giatsint-B, 152mm) in firing position near Petrivka (43km north of Donetsk); and a surface-to-air missile system (9K35 Strela-10) near Svitlodarsk (57km north-east of Donetsk).