September 20, 2014, Kyiv – Volodymyr Polevyi, the NSDC Information center representative at his press briefing in Ukraine Crisis Media Center spoke of the key provisions of the Memo on the Trilateral contact group’s September 5 Minutes implementation that was approved based on the results of the latest negotiations on September 19 in Minsk. The Memorandum contains the following provisions:
Bilateral ceasefire.
Weapon employment termination is considered to be universal.
Suspension of subdivisions and military formations of the parties on their confrontation line as of September 19.
Prohibition of employment of all types of ammunition and any offensive action.
Withdrawal of weapons with a caliber exceeding 100 mm from the confrontation line to the distance not less than 15 km from each side, including populated localities, which will provide possibility to create a zone of weapon employment termination 30 km wide or more – the Security zone. At the same time, all the artillery systems a caliber exceeding 100 mm are withdrawn from the confrontation line to the distance of their maximum range capability.
Prohibition of location of heavy armament and heavy equipment in the stated area.
Prohibition of new mine barriers installment in the borders of the Security zone and obligation to remove previously installed mine barriers in the Security zone.
Prohibition of flights of combat aviation and foreign aircraft above the Security zone, excluding OSCE air vehicles.
Deployment of OSCE monitoring mission consisting of the group of Organization observers in the area of weapon employment termination within 24 hours from the moment of passing a Memo. It is reasonable to divide the abovementioned area into sectors, with number of borders approved during OSCE monitors pre-starting work.
Withdrawal of all foreign armed groupings, military weaponry as well as militants and mercenaries from the territory of Ukraine, under OSCE monitoring.
Apart of the Memorandum approved, terrorists and Russian troops continue outshooting of ATO forces positions.
According to Polevyi, in the last 24 hours illegal armed groupings outshot checkpoints of positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donetsk region nearby Mariupol, Nyzhnia Krynka, Trudovske, Novoselivka, Pisky, Novomykhaylivka, Nykyshyno, Hostra Mohyla hill, Komyshuvakha, Hranitne, Krasnohorivka, Donetske, Troyitske, Ridkodub, Vodyane, Krasnoarmiysk populated localities and Donetsk airport.
In Luhansk region terrorists outshot Schastya, Stanytsya Luhanska, Nyzhnyoteple, Frunze, Mius, Tsentralnyi, Orlivske populated localities.
ATO forces destroyed about 20 terrorists, 1 БМ-21 “Grad” multiple launch rocket system and 4 mortar launchers with reprisal fire.
Terrorists and Russian troops attacked ATO forces platoon posts nearby Novoselivka and Puteprovid villages in Donetsk region with fire and were trying to seize them. Ukrainian troops defeated both attacks.
NSDC representative informed that in the last 24 hours as a result of combat actions 1 Ukrainian serviceman died and 7 were wounded.
During the briefing Volodymyr Polevyi spoke on the situation with internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine. According to intelligence data collected, total number of the citizens of Ukraine displaced from the Autonomous Republic from Crimea and Sevastopol city to other regions amounts to 17 thousand 937 people, including 5 thousand 38 children, 1 thousand 264 disabled and senior citizens. 43 people were displaces within 24 hours, 15 children and 4 disabled and senior citizens among them.
238 thousand 235 people, including 79 thousand 242 children, 35 thousand 388 disabled and senior citizens were displaced from ATO area to other regions. 4 thousand 620 IDPs were registered within 24 hours.
Total number of internally displaced persons including displacement form Crimea within Donetsk and Luhansk regions amounts to 282 thousand 309 people.
As of today 4 transfer stations for meeting of IDPs function on the border of ATO areas, i.e.: nearby Krasnoarmiysk and Mariupol towns in Donetsk region and nearby Svatove and Lysychansk towns in Luhansk region.
Within 24 hours pyrotechnic subdivisions of the State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations found and removed 187 units of explosive hazards in the territories liberated from terrorists.
Since the beginning of works (from July 6, 2014) 18913 units of ammunition in total were found and removed.
NSDC representative also reported on the outcomes of yesterday meeting of the UN Security Council, during which the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Frans Timmermans briefed on the preliminary results of Malaysia Airlines Boeing-777 crash investigation.
The report of the Dutch Safety Board, coordinating the international commission investigation of 9 September, is based on the cockpit voice recorder, the flight data recorder and air traffic control data. As the preliminary report reads, the aircraft broke apart in the air due to penetration by a large number of high-energy objects.
UK Permanent representative to the United Nations Mark Lyall Grant emphasized: “The Russian Federation is largely responsible for violence in the southeast of Ukraine and it also has questions to answer in connection with the aircraft crash”.
Mark Lyall Grant believes that the claim of the Russian party of an unidentified SU-25 combat aircraft being involved into the incident which may serve as the evidence of Ukrainian culpability of the aircraft crash, do not stand up to criticism and are “pure fiction”.
«We do know that МН17 flight aircraft crashed as a result of being hit by a ground-to-air missile. We know that some seconds before the loss of connection a missile launch from the separatist-controlled territory in the southeast of Ukraine had recorded. We intercepted separatists’ talks in which they mentioned having brought a civil aircraft down», – he said in his speech at the UN Security Council meeting on Friday.
Mark Lyall Grant also stated that Russian claims against the Dutch independence and impartiality were untrue.
During the UN Security Council session the USA Permanent representative to the United Nations Samantha Power called upon the Russian Federation to withdraw the troops from Ukraine and stop supporting illegal armed formations acting in the east of Ukraine. She also pointed at the necessity to discharge all the prisoners, close the border and place it under Ukrainian control. Samantha Power laid special emphasis on the need to create favourable conditions for OSCE monitoring mission work in the east of Ukraine.
Jolie Bishop, the head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Australia made the following statement at the Security Council session on Friday: «Situation in the East of Ukraine deteriorated due to the support Russia is providing to armed separatists groups. This support continues and it must be stopped».
