The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (OSCE SMM) has recorded new ceasefire violations in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
“The SMM recorded ceasefire violations in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. From its position at ‘Donetsk People’s Republic (‘DPR’)-controlled Donetsk railway station (6km north-west of Donetsk), the SMM saw and/or heard 37 explosions (direction not known) from anti-aircraft fire, rocket-propelled grenades, one 82mm caliber mortar and 83 bursts of small-arms fire mainly at locations in the north and north-west,” the SMM said in a report on Nov. 13, citing information available as of 7.30 p.m. on Nov. 12.
SMM members positioned in Slovianoserbsk, a town 28 kilometers north-west of Luhansk controlled by the self-proclaimed Luhansk people’s republic (LPR), “over a two-hour period, heard several bursts of small-arms and heavy machine-gun fire, as well as several explosions outgoing from a north-north-eastern direction, possibly from a training area in government-controlled Triokhizbenka (33km north-west of Luhansk),” it said.
Neither the DPR, nor the LPR have yet provided the requested inventory of heavy weapons subject to withdrawal, or locations of designated permanent storage sites for these weapons, as requested by the SMM on 16 October. The Ukrainian military authorities are yet to provide such information, the report says.
“Nonetheless, the SMM revisited locations beyond the respective withdrawal lines and are known to the SMM as heavy weapons holding areas, even though they did not comply with the specific criteria set out in the 16 October notification,” it said.
In particular, “the SMM revisited seven Ukrainian Armed Forces permanent weapons storage sites whose locations corresponded with the withdrawal lines. At four sites, all previously-recorded weapons (which matched the quantity and serial numbers of the inventory) were present. At a fifth site, five main battle tanks (MBTs) (four T72, one T64) listed in the inventory were not present; their absence had been noted during previous visits. At a sixth site, three MBTs (T72) listed on the inventory were not present; their absence had been noted during previous visits,” the report says.
The SMM also revisited a DPR permanent weapons storage site, “whose location corresponded with the withdrawal lines, and observed that all previously-recorded weapons were present,” it said.
