Report from OSCE

Report from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) dated April 25 and covers period up to April 24.

....This update is provided for the media and the public.

Western and Central Ukraine, including Kiev, as well as many regions of the southern part of the country, were calm. In the regions neighbouring Donbas some tensions continued – they resulted either from the political polarization or fears of possible activities of armed opponents of the government. The situation continued to be tense in Luhansk and, in particular, Donetsk regions.

The Kharkiv team attended a regular session of the Regional Council. The deputies urged the regional legislature to secure the status of Russian as a second state language, and to ban parties advocating neo-Nazism and separatism. The team also monitored two rallies, by pro- and anti-government groups respectively. Whereas supporters of a unitary Ukraine numbered around 50 to 60, the opponents of the current government totalled approximately 200. Approximately 200 police in riot gear were present. Neighbouring metro stations were closed.

The general situation in Luhansk was assessed as tense. The situation around the occupied state security service (SBU) building remained stable, although the team observed further reinforcement of the barricades around the building. The Special Monitoring Mission met with the chairman of the Luhansk Regional Council and the local branch of the Party of Regions. According to him, the Luhansk Regional Council shared the demands of the SBU occupiers for recognizing Russian as a regional language and implementation of decentralization. He insisted that the Luhansk Regional Council did not support separatism.

The overall situation in Donetsk region remained tense. Occupation of state institutions in the city of Donetsk continued. The team confirmed that no offices or floors of the Donetsk Regional Administration building were returned to the government, contrary to what was reported in the press. Additional barricades and roadblocks were found to have been erected on the highways leading north from Donetsk, all of them being manned by unarmed or armed supporters of the “Donetsk People’s Republic”. On the way between Sloviansk and Artemivsk (45 km southeast of Sloviansk) the team saw two roadblocks manned by Ukrainian military personnel, and on the outskirts of Donetsk a roadblock manned by Ukrainian police was encountered. The team observed that two roadblocks in the region, in Makiyivka and in the vicinity of Debaltseve, were being dismantled. According to a member of the Town Council of Debaltseve, this resulted from a lack of volunteers to man the barricades, as people were afraid for their personal safety. The team received information that the occupation of the city administration building in Mariupol continued in spite of press reports to the contrary.

The Dnepropetrovsk team met with a representative of the pro- government National Defence organization who confirmed that two men had been detained by police and taken to Dnepropetrovsk on suspicion of espionage. The interlocutor ................