Kyiv Continues Third Stage of Heavy Arms Withdrawal in East Ukraine
KYIV (Sputnik) — Ukrainian army is continuing the pullout of heavy arms in Donbas, Ukrainian military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said Saturday.
“The third stage of the Ukrainian armed forces’ military equipment in accordance with the Minsk agreement is continuing. The withdrawal of Uragan multiple rocket launchers to a previously prepared site began yesterday,” the National Security and Defense Council spokesman said at a briefing.
The 100-mm Rapira anti-tank guns, as well as the 122-mm Grad multiple rocket launchers and the 152-mm Akatsiya self-propelled artillery have already been removed from the line of contact, Lysenko added.
The pullout of large-caliber weapons from the line of contact in Donbas is part of 13 measures toward the Ukrainian reconciliation, collectively referred to as the Minsk agreement, signed by the sides of the Ukrainian internal conflict to the nearly year-long conflict on February 12.
March 1, two weeks after a ceasefire came into force, marked the deadline for the withdrawal of heavy arms set out by the Minsk deal. Independence forces claim they have met the deadline by completing the process on Sunday.
Eduard Basurin, a top military official of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), announced on Saturday the withdrawal of 24 120-mm heavy mortars.
Basurin emphasized the pullout was not part of the February 12 Minsk peace deal, but was done in “the spirit, rather than the letter” of the agreement.
The conflict in southeastern Ukraine dates back to April 2014, when Kyiv launched a military campaign against independence supporters in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. The United Nations estimates that over 6,000 civilians have died in ongoing battles.