Last week the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine recorded over 6 000 ceasefire violations in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. “Over 30 per cent of recorded ceasefire violations occurred in the Avdiivka-Yasynuvata-Donetsk airport triangle; almost 20 per cent in areas east and north-east of Mariupol; about 16 per cent in the northern and western outskirts of Horlivka; about 12 percent in the Popasna-Pervomaisk-Zolote area; and about 12 percent in areas south and south-east of Svitlodarsk,” reported Alexander Hug, Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
Mr. Hug emphasized that the agreed disengagement in Stanytsia Luhanska, Petrivkse and Zolote still did not take place. “Last week the OSCE SMM, in fact, recorded ceasefire violations in the Zolote and Petrivske disengagement areas. Inside the Petrivske disengagement area, the SMM observed new military positions and extended trenches belonging to the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” he noted.
Last week, the OSCE SMM observed 108 weapons in violation of agreed withdrawal lines, including multiple launch rocket systems. Seventy of the weapons were observed in areas controlled by the Government and 38 in areas controlled by the so-called “LPR”-“DPR”.
Alexander Hug also noted that during this week the monitors have repeatedly observed convoys of weapons on both sides of the contact line. “Since I last spoke to you, we have seen, for example, convoys moving across the Ukraine-Russian Federation border. We have also seen convoys and large amounts of hardware being routed through government-controlled Kostiantynivka,” he elaborated.