22 June 2014

Ukrainians bring funeral wreaths to Russian embassies, consulates to protest war against Ukraine.

According to the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the OSCE reports today that the situation in parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions remained tense and mainly unchanged compared to the previous reports. 

Four SMM monitors from the Donetsk team have been missing for 28 days and four SMM monitors from the Luhansk team for 25 days.

According to the self-proclaimed 'major' of Slovyansk, there is a possible ecological catastrophe caused by the collapse of the sewage system in Slovyansk. 10,000 litres of untreated sewage are pouring daily into the Sukhyi Torets river, which flows into the Siverskyi Donetsk and then the Don rivers. The risk affects both Ukraine and Russia, and the sewage treatment pumps are not operational because the electrical transmission lines to both Slovyansk and the sewage treatment plant have been damaged.

The local ceasefire to repair the pump stations’ water inlets for the Siverskyi Donetsk –Donbas Channel has not been respected, and throughout the region there is an acute shortage of surgeons, trauma personnel and operating nurses.

 The SMM interlocutors said that the main demands of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) are withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from Donbas and recognition of the DPR. The SMM observed an ‘anti-war and anti-fascism’ rally, organized by the Committee of Soldiers' Mothers in Donetsk’s main square. Some of the demonstrators condemned the UN, PACE and the OSCE for ‘a lack of help’ to the DPR.

The situation in Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson and Odessa was calm.

Putin, meanwhile, has urged Ukraine to discuss the ceasefire and appears determined to keep up the pressure to force the Kyiv government to give the eastern industrial regions more powers. This would prevent Ukraine from moving too close to the European Union or NATO. However, Putin himself needs to avoid more punishing sanctions from the US and particularly from the EU. EU leaders will meet on Friday in Brussels. Putin needs to be seen as cooperating with efforts to de-escalate the conflict.