The Mission received reports that the SMM premises in Mariupol were damaged due to shelling.
The process of temporary evacuation of all international mission members is nearly complete. The last remaining group – the Chief Monitor and senior management team – will now leave Ukraine.
The relocation of national mission members formerly stationed in Kramatorsk and Sievierodonetsk continues while the relocation of those formerly stationed in Mariupol is still pending due to security concerns. Another convoy of national mission members from Kyiv has started its movement out of Kyiv.
SMM premises in Mariupol damaged due to shelling
On the morning of 6 March, at around 11:30, the Mission received reports that the premises of the SMM Mariupol Hub were damaged due to shelling. According to initial reports from SMM national mission members, the building has been damaged, SMM communication equipment has been destroyed, and two SMM vehicles were set on fire.
All sides were notified about the coordinates of the SMM premises in Mariupol to ensure they were protected before the beginning of hostilities.
SMM evacuation
The Mission continued its evacuation activities as per the 24 February instruction to temporarily evacuate all international mission members.
In the evening of 6 March, the evacuation of the Kherson Monitoring Team to the Russian Federation was completed.
On the same day, the relocation of national mission members formerly stationed in Kramatorsk and Sievierodonetsk continued. The relocation of national mission members formerly stationed in Kyiv also began. Due to an escalation of ongoing kinetic activity, and the absence of an agreement on a humanitarian corridor, the relocation of national mission
1. Based on information from the Monitoring Teams as of 16:00, 6 March 2022. All times are in Eastern European Time. The SMM is deployed to ten locations throughout Ukraine – Kherson, Odessa, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Donetsk, Dnipro, Chernivtsi, Luhansk and Kyiv – as per Permanent Council Decision 1117 of 21 March 2014.
2. Members formerly stationed in Mariupol could not be initiated for the second time. Relocation of these mission members is planned once the security situation allows for it.
The Chief Monitor and senior management remain in Ukraine, but are planning to leave the SMM area of operation now that all other international mission members have left.