ReliefWeb

SUMMARY

Kamensk-Shakhtinskiy, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs). The overall number of border crossings by persons decreased at both BCPs compared to the previous week.

OPERATIONAL REMARKS

The OM is currently operating with 22 permanent international staff members, including the Chief Observer (CO). The Mission is supported administratively by a staff member and the Chief of Fund Administration based in Vienna.

Update on COVID-19 measures

During the reporting period, the OM has been subject to developing restrictions on air travel and international and local measures, which limit the travel of the OM’s observers. The OM’s operations have been impacted by COVID-19 developments, and measures taken to ensure the safety of staff and compliance with measures set by the host authorities._ _The CO has maintained constant working contacts with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the respective local authorities. The Mission will continue to keep the situation under close review, in close contact with the Secretariat and Chairmanship and is capable of continuing to fulfill its mandate under the current circumstances.

OBSERVATIONS AT THE BORDER CROSSING POINTS

Persons crossing the border

The profile of persons crossing the border can be categorized as follows:

1. Adults travelling on foot or by car with little or no luggage;
2. Persons in military-style outfits;
3. Families (often including elderly persons and/or children) travelling on foot or by car with a significant amount of luggage.

The average number of entries/exits decreased from10,523 to 4,735per day at both BCPs compared to last week[1].

During the reporting period, the majority of border crossings were to Ukraine, with an average net flow of262 per day for both BCPs.The Donetsk BCP continued to experience much more traffic than the Gukovo BCP.

Responding to the COVID-19 crisis, the host country closed its borders for the majority of foreigners from 18 March to 1 May 2020. Among the exceptions, entered into force on 19 March, there are Ukrainian citizens and stateless people having passport or Identification Document with the mark of permanent residence in certain areas of Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine. This category of people crossing is significant at both BCPs.

Persons in military-style outfits

During the reporting period, the number of persons in military-style outfits crossing the border in both directions at both BCPs was four, compared to 14last week, one of them crossed into the Russian Federation, and three into Ukraine (75 per cent of this category’s crossings occurred at the Donetsk BCP). They continued to cross the border individually or in groups. Most individuals crossed on foot, however, some made use of private vehicles, buses or minivans, making it more difficult for the observer teams (OTs) to observe their movement across the border, especially since some of the private vehicles had tinted windows, and buses and minivans had drawn curtains.

Families with a significant amount of luggage

The OTs continued to report on families, sometimes with elderly persons and/or children, crossing the border at both BCPs with a significant amount of luggage, or travelling in heavily loaded cars. During this reporting week, one family was observed crossing into the Russian Federation and two families were observed crossing into Ukraine, compared to the previous reporting period when five families were observed crossing to the Russian Federation and 10 families into Ukraine.

Bus connections

Regular local and long-distance bus connections continued to operate between Ukraine (mostly from/to the Luhansk region) and the Russian Federation. In addition to regular bus connections, the OTs continued to observe bus connections on irregular routes. Often the buses did not state their route; instead they had a sign on the windshield stating “irregular”.

During the reporting period, the OTs observed a significant decrease in the overall number of buses crossing the border at both BCPs (245 compared to 447observed during the previous week). There were 112 buses bound for the Russian Federation and 133 bound for Ukraine.

On some occasions, the OTs noticed the bus drivers removing the itinerary signs from the windshields of their buses, while some buses did not display their route at all. The majority of long-distance buses commuting between the Luhansk region and cities in the Russian Federation had Ukrainian licence plates issued in the Luhansk region and “LPR” plates.

Trucks

During the reporting period, the OTs observed an increase in the overall number of trucks crossing the border at both BCPs (949 compared to 793 during the previous reporting week);538 at the Gukovo BCP and 411at the Donetsk BCP, 549of these trucks crossed into the Russian Federation and 400 crossed into Ukraine. Most of the trucks observed by the OTs had Ukrainian licence plates issued in the Luhansk region; however, on a daily basis, the OTs also continued to observe tanker trucks crossing the border in both directions. During the reporting week, the number of tanker trucksincreasedfrom49 to 63. These trucks were observed crossing the border at both BCPs. The trucks had the words “Propane” and “Flammable” written across the tanks in either Russian or Ukrainian. The majority of tanker trucks had hazard signs, indicating that they were transporting propane or a mix of propane and butane.

All trucks underwent systematic inspection by Russian Federation officials, which could include an X-ray check. Due to the unfavourable observation position at the Gukovo BCP, the OTs continued to be unable to observe any X-ray checks.

Compared to the previous week, the total number of X-ray checks at the Donetsk BCP increased from 140 to 179. Of the total number of trucks scanned, 159 trucks (89 per cent) were bound for Ukraine: the remaining 20 trucks (11 per cent) crossed into the Russian Federation)

Minivans

The OM continued to observe passenger and cargo minivans[2] crossing the border in both directions at both BCPs. The OTs observed minivans predominantly with Ukrainian licence plates issued in the Luhansk region; however, the OTs also frequently saw minivans registered in the Russian Federation. Compared to the previous week, the number of cargo minivans significantly decreased from 195 to 97vehicles; 47 crossed into the Russian Federation and another 50 into Ukraine.

Trains

The OTs continued to pick up the sound of trains on the railway tracks located approximately 150m south-west of the Gukovo BCP. During the reporting week, the OTs heard trains on 16 occasions; the OTs assessed that eight trains were travelling to the Russian Federation and eight to Ukraine (more details are provided in the sections “trends and figures at a glance” below).

Visual observation was not possible because of the line of trees located between the train tracks and the BCP.

Other observations

The majority of vehicles crossing the border had Ukrainian licence plates issued in the Luhansk region, or Russian Federation licence plates. A significant number of vehicles with “LPR” plates were also observed crossing the border in both directions on a daily basis. The OTs also observed vehicles with “DPR” plates and vehicles with Georgian and Lithuanian licence plates.

On 17 March at 16:00, the OT at Donetsk BCP observed a white minivan with an inscription "Ритуальные услуги" (ritual services) – written in Russian, crossing from the Russian Federation into Ukraine.

On 23 March at 20:22, the OT observed one police vehicle arriving atthe Donetsk BCP from the Russian Federation. The car stopped behind the main building and was partially visible to the OT. At 20:33 the same day, the vehicle left the BCP towards the Russian Federation with two passengers and a driver on board.

For trends and figures at a glance covering the period from 18 February to 24 March 2020, please see the attachment here

[1]Based on data received from the Regional Representation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

[2] Cargo minivans: light commercial vehicles with a maximum authorized mass of more than 3.5 t and not more than 7.5 t; with or without a trailer with a maximum mass of less than 750 kg (small cargo vehicles which correspond to driving licence C1).