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 that the number of ceasefire violations at and around Donetsk airport decreased. In Shyrokyne no ceasefire violations were observed. The repair at the water pipeline north-west of Horlivka was suspended due to ceasefire violations. The SMM in Kyiv as well as on the crash site in Hrabove observed a minute of silence in honour of the victims of the downing of Malaysian Airline Flight MH17.

The Ukrainian radical organization Right Sector has reportedly claimed that it cannot communicate with its members who are hiding from law enforcement officers in Mukachevo due to technical problems.

Timely information from the fronts of DPR and LPR, military reports from the Armed Forces of Novorossia, ATO news, photos and videos by military journalists from the flash points of Donbass, topical interviews with leaders of Novorossia.

Watch videos of events in Novorossia on Cassad-TV

Collecting help for Novorossia. Charitable Foundation "Global Initiatives"

The level of violence at and around the destroyed “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”)-controlled airport (12km north-west of Donetsk) decreased compared to previous days. Positioned at the “DPR”-controlled Donetsk central railway station (8km north-west of Donetsk), the SMM heard and observed on 16 July between 08:10 and 16:00hrs 10 incoming/14 outgoing and 15 unknown explosions at locations 3-6km north, north-west, west and south of its position. The SMM estimates that the explosions were caused by mortar and light weapons.  The SMM also heard the use of small arms north, north-west and south west of its position.

Roundup of the week for July 13-18, 2015
1. The situation over the last day in the DPR and the LPR.
2. The leaders of the "Norman Four" held telephone talks on the situation in Ukraine.
3. About a thousand DPR citizens are in captivity.
4. 5 countries supported the creation of the tribunal on Boeing passenger plane crash near Donetsk.

Maria Gaidar is the former vice-governor of Russia’s Kirov region and the head of the Social Inquiry foundation, as well as a prominent activist of Russian opposition

While some Western countries are pushing for an international tribunal to punish those whom they have already deemed responsible for the MH17 plane crash, there are still questions remaining for which the investigation is apparently reluctant to search for answers, a whole year after the tragedy.

Russian Foreign Ministry hopes that western partners will persuade the Ukrainian authorities to start a real national dialogue in the country instead of encouraging Kiev’s irresponsible policy

A year after the start of the civil war in the breakaway Donbass region, Ukraine is shattered by a new conflict, with dyed-in-the wool nationalists turning their arms against Kiev and tearing up EU banners.

A member of Ukraine’s parliamentary faction Samopomich commented on the faction’s refusal to support the proposed amendments to the country’s main law

Andrej Hunko, a German lawmaker, said that Europe should do its upmost to stop the fighting in eastern Ukraine.