Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM) based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 6 January 2015

The SMM continued to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum and the work of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC). An SMM Unarmed/Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) was shot at in the Donetsk region. The SMM visited a number of border crossing-points (BCPs) across the country.

At the JCCC Headquarters  in government-controlled Debaltseve (55km north-east of Donetsk), officers from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the Russian Federation Armed Forces were present with representatives of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”) and “Lugansk People’s Republic” (“LPR”). The officers told the SMM that the Ukrainian Major- General, Head of the Ukrainian side to the JCCC and the Russian Major-General, Representative of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to the JCCC were in Donetsk, as were their respective chiefs of staff, to observe the rotation of Ukrainian Armed Forces at Donetsk airport. The interlocutors informed the SMM that in the preceding 24 hours “DPR”-controlled areas have seen continued recorded ceasefire violations, mainly in the area of Donetsk airport. They said that for the period from 5 January at 08:00hrs to 6 January at 08:00hrs 40 incidents had been registered: 23 attributed to the Ukrainian side; 15 to the “DPR” and two to the “LPR”. Eighteen incidents were recorded at Donetsk airport, three at Pisky (7km north-west of Donetsk, government-controlled). The remaining incidents were at Nikishina (12km south-east of Debaltseve, partly “DPR”-controlled, partly government-controlled) and Chornukhyne (6km east of Debaltseve, “LPR”-controlled). Both incidents attributed to the “LPR” involved small arms and light weapons.

On 5 January whilst traveling to Ulyanivs’ke BCP (65km south-east of Donetsk, “DPR”-controlled), the SMM was stopped at a checkpoint manned by five members of the Cossack battalion "Sokolinaya sotnia" (Falcon hundred), near “DPR”-controlled Novoivanevka (59km south-east of Donetsk). The “DPR” members did not let the SMM pass the checkpoint, referring to an order from their superiors.

While traveling to government-controlled Makarivka (108km west-south-west of Donetsk) the SMM saw two trucks with mounted rocket-launcher systems, likely to be “Uragan” systems, being guarded by Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers. The trucks were stationary, parked near a field. The SMM spoke with some of the soldiers, who stated that they were from the “Anti-Terrorism Operation” (“ATO”) and have pulled back as far as possible from positions held by “DPR”.

On 6 January, while in government-controlled Myrne (60km south of Donetsk) the SMM heard sounds consistent with artillery shelling, which lasted for approximately 40 minutes. The SMM assessed that the sound was consistent with an exchange of fire, concentrated in an area some 8km north of Myrne.

On 5 January at approximately 17:30 hours, an SMM UAV was engaged by what appeared to be a truck-mounted ZU-23 (23mm twin barrelled anti-aircraft gun). The incident occurred in Oktyabr village, 18km north-east of Mariupol, in “DPR”- controlled territory. UAV video analysis showed unknown persons firing at the UAV. A similar incident had occurred on 2 December in the same area (see SMM Daily Report 2 December 2014).

 On 6 January the SMM visited the BCP in government-controlled Milovoe (107km north-east of Luhansk), where the SMM spoke with the chief of the border guards and the chief of customs. Both interlocutors informed the SMM that the security situation was calm in their area of responsibility. They explained that the BCP was used by Ukrainian and Russian citizens only and that crossing was allowed for pedestrians and private vehicles. Over a period of about two hours the SMM observed approximately 15 people crossing, men and women of different ages.

On 5 January the SMM met with the deputy chief of the Border Guard Service in Dergachi (15km north-west of Kharkiv) who said that the situation at the border with the Russian Federation had been stable. He also said that in the past few weeks cross-border traffic in both directions at the border crossing-point in Goptivka (35km north-west of Kharkiv) was higher than usual due to the holiday season.

In Dnepropetrovsk, Kherson and Odesa the situation was calm.

The SMM visited the border crossing-point in Porubne (37km south of Chernivtsi) at the Ukrainian-Romanian border. The border guard officer in charge told the SMM that the security situation in the area was calm and that cross-border traffic was low due to the holiday season.

On 5 January in Lviv the SMM met with representatives of the Regional Department for Social Protection (RDSP) who stated that the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) registered in the Lviv region amounted to 9,661, out of which 6,608 were adults and 3,053 children. The number of registered IDPs from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions was 6,764, out of which 4,661 were adults and 2,103 children. The number of IDPs from Crimea who registered with the RDSP was 2,897, out of which 1,947 were adults and 950 children.

In Ivano-Frankivsk and Kyiv the situation remained calm. 

http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/133551