ОБСЄ

1. NEWSROOM
Spot report by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, 14
January 2015: 12 civilians killed and 17 wounded when a rocket
exploded close to a civilian bus near Volnovakha
At approximately 14:35hrs on 13 January the regional traffic police confirmed to the SMM that a Grad rocket
struck close to a civilian bus when it stopped at a Ukrainian Armed Forces checkpoint approximately 2km north
of Volnovakha (35km south-west of Donetsk).
The SMM arrived at the location of the incident at 17:45hrs and witnessed the removal of two of the dead
passengers from the bus. The bus had shrapnel damage consistent with a nearby rocket impact, estimated by the
SMM to be 12-15 meters from the side of the bus. The SMM visited the Volnovakha hospital where the staff
confirmed that ten persons on the bus were killed instantly, while two died later in the hospital. Another 17
passengers were injured.
Following a proposal from the SMM, the Ukrainian Major-General and Head of the Ukrainian side to the JCCC
and the Russian Federation Major-General, representative of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to the
Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) and the “Donetsk People’s Republic” (DPR) leadership have
agreed to conduct a joint investigation led by the JCCC. In parallel, the SMM will continue its observations and
establish its own findings regarding the incident.
Contacts
Michael Bociurkiw
Spokesperson
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine
26 Turgenevska Street
01054 Kyiv
Ukraine
Office: +380 44 382 0832
Mobile: +38 067 4083107
michael.bociurkiw@osce.org