In September, OSCE SMM registered a 62 percent drop in the number of ceasefire violations, compared to August, from 22658 to 8683, and also a 59 percent drop in the number of civilian casualties (2 fatalities, 13 people injured), stated Alexander Hug, Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
Last week, the SMM monitors observed 2057 ceasefire violations – a five percent decrease compared to the week before. The majority of them were registered in Avdiivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport triangle, in the areas to north and north-east from Mariupol, and in Svitlodarsk area.
«There were also quite a lot of ceasefire violations recorded in the area about 40 kilometers north-west of Luhansk, in particular between government-controlled Krymske, and so-called ‘LPR’-controlled Sokilnyky. There, just in one day, on 28th of September, took place about 90 percent of all SMM-recorded explosions attributable to artillery systems,” added Alexander Hug.
OSCE SMM noted 76 weapons in violation of withdrawal lines. “In government-controlled Mykhailivka on October 2 our UAV spotted what is the most likely a 120-mm mortar, alongside with infantry fighting vehicle,” Alexander Hug noted. In so-called “DPR”-controlled Verkhnioshyrokivske the monitors’ UAV spotted a main battle tank. The monitors also observed a significant number of hardware located just beyond withdrawal lines. “Near so-called “DPR”-controlled Torez, for example, an SMM’s UAV spotted a large concentration of hardware – 15 main battle tanks, three self-propelled howitzers, one self-propelled cannon, and three armored personnel carriers,” elaborated OSCE SMM Principal Deputy Chief Monitor.
Alexander Hug noted that over 500 unarmed civil monitors of the OSCE are currently working in the east of Ukraine.