News from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine

Rome [ENA] The OSCE works to prevent conflicts from arising and to facilitate lasting comprehensive political settlements of existing conflicts. It also promotes peacebuilding and post-conflict rehabilitation. To that end, it works with all relevant actors, including partnering international and regional organizations, such as the United Nations. The Organization’s main tools to address this cycle include its network of

field operations and the Conflict Prevention Centre(CPC). In Ukraine OSCE is present with the Special Monitoring Mission. Between the evenings of 22 and 23 December, OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine recorded fewer ceasefire violations in Donetsk region and more in Luhansk region, compared with the previous 24 hours. It observed damage caused by gunfire to civilian properties in Donetsk city’s Petrovskyi district.The Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine kept a record of ceasefire violations inside the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas. The Mission saw weapons in violation of the withdrawal lines on both sides of the contact line. It observed long queues of civilians travelling across the contact line near Marinka.

The Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine facilitated and monitored commitment to the ceasefire to enable repair works to important civilian infrastructure. It continued to facilitate the operation of the Donetsk Filtration Station. Restrictions of the Mission’s access continued in all three disengagement areas. The Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine was also limited near Novolaspa and Izvaryne, an area of Luhansk region close to the border with the Russian Federation. In Donetsk region, between the evenings of 21 and 22 December, the Special Mission recorded more ceasefire violations, including 85 explosions. The majority of ceasefire violations were recorded in areas south-east and south of Svitlodarsk (government-controlled, 57km

north-east of Donetsk) and at south-westerly and north-westerly directions of Horlivka (non-government-controlled, 39km north-east of Donetsk).The Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine was not able to determine the direction of fire. On the night of 22-23 December, the Mission camera in Zolote recorded two projectiles in flight (one from north-north-east to south-south-east and the other from north-east to south-west) at an assessed range of 1.5-3km south-south-east (assessed as inside the disengagement area). During the day on 22 December, positioned about 2km north of Petrivske (non-government-controlled, 41km south of Donetsk), the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine heard seven bursts of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 2-3km

south-west (assessed as inside the disengagement area) and about 30 bursts and shots of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 1-3km south-south-east (assessed as outside the disengagement area).The following day, positioned at the same location, the SMM heard two shots of small-arms fire at an assessed range of 1-1.5km south-south-east (assessed as outside the disengagement area). During the day on 23 December, while on the eastern edge of Stanytsia Luhanska (government-controlled, 16km north-east of Luhansk), the Mission heard six undetermined explosions at an assessed range of 4-5km south-west (assessed as outside the disengagement area).