Donetsk Denies OSCE Claim it Did Not Report Artillery Rollback Routes

The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic claims to have sent a list of heavy artillery with the time and the route to be used for its removal to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe while the OSCE reports to have received nothing from both sides of the conflict.

DONETSK (Sputnik) – The eastern Ukrainian self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic has denied a report by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe that the DPR has not given the OSCE a planned route of removing heavy artillery from the frontlines of the military conflict.

Earlier, a statement made by Ertugrul Apakan, the Cheif Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, was posted on the Misssion's Facebook page, saying that the opposing sides have still not presented the list of heavy artillery or the routes they plan to use to pull back the equipment.

Post by OSCE SMMU — Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine.

"A letter with a list of heavy artillery, the time, and the route to be used for its removal was sent a long time ago to the OSCE, and we’ve invited them to be there during the pullback [of heavy artillery]," DPR Deputy Commander Eduard Basurin said.

Kiev-led forces and militias of Ukraine's eastern breakaway regions agreed to a ceasefire and pullback of heavy weaponry last September after months of deadly clashes. Despite the agreement, brokered by Russia and the OSCE, fighting failed to end.

A new truce deal, outlined during a meeting of the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany on February 12, came into effect the following weekend.

Ukraine's warring sides again vowed to move heavy weaponry away from the contact line. As sporadic fighting continued, Kiev said it would begin the pullback only after a true ceasefire, while the DPR claims it withdrew over 100 pieces of artillery on Tuesday.