"The withdrawal of artillery will start on February 24, and has to terminate no later than 14 days afterwards, with a complete withdrawal of Ukrainian heavy weapons to a distance of 50 kilometers [31 miles] from the line fixed on February 12 this year. Our artillery will be withdrawn completely from the contact line fixed on last September 19, according to the Minsk agreements," Basurin said.
On Saturday, it was reported that the representatives of the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) have agreed on heavy weaponry pullout from the region for Sunday.
The withdrawal of weapons is part of an agreement on Ukrainian reconciliation brokered by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany. According to the deal, the withdrawal must start no later than the second day after the beginning of the ceasefire and has to be completed in a 14-days period. Ceasefire was enforced last Sunday.
On Thursday, Basurin said that DPR had withdrawn a total of eight 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled guns, six D-30 Howitzers and six Grad multiple-launch rocket systems from the line of contact with Kiev forces.
