The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by third parties and security considerations*. The SMM observed a sharp increase of ceasefire violations at and around the Donetsk airport. The situation around Shyrokyne was calm. The SMM continued to facilitate demining and repairs at a major water pipeline between Maiorsk and Horlivka.

* Please see the section at the end of this report entitled “Restrictions on SMM access and freedom of movement” for further information.

Roundup of the day for July 08-09, 2015
1. The situation over the last day in the DPR and the LPR.
2. The leaders of the Donbass republics proposed the establishment of an international tribunal.
3. The meeting of the OSCE in Helsinki approved the anti-Russian resolution.
4. Ukraine is among the leaders in the number of children being sent for adoption to the United States.

The Ukrainian army no longer dares to openly attack the territory of Donbass. But Kiev is further conducting a policy of isolation towards the eastern regions along with continued shelling and blockades, Südwest-Presse wrote.

Ukrainian Parliament Speaker Volodymyr Groisman has cancelled the plenary session of Verkhovna Rada scheduled for Thursday, on which the lawmakers were supposed to discuss the draft law on local elections,the leader of Ukraine's Radical Party Oleh Lyashko said.

Ukraine made another step towards integration with the European Union.

The government of Ukraine has hired APCO Worldwide, an independent public relations (PR) consultancy, to help with media coverage during the upcoming visit of Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk to the United States.

The radical organization is going to create so-called volunteer battalions in three Ukrainian regions. Such battalions are known for committing mass crimes, including the suppression of protests in the Donbass region.

US media coverage of the neo-Nazi Azov Battalion in Ukraine has diverted attention from the fascism that permeates politics in Kiev, experts told Sputnik.

Lithuania has sent four military instructors to assist in the training of the Ukrainian National Guard alongside US paratroopers, according to a statement by the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense.