Donetsk Withdraws 90% of Heavy Weaponry From Line Of Contact – DPR Leader

Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) leader Alexander Zakharchenko said that Kiev must start the withdrawal until 7:00 Moscow time [16:00 GMT] Friday, otherwise the republic will return its heavy weapons to where they were on February 12, 2015, the day when reconciliation agreements were signed in Minsk.

DONETSK (Sputnik) – The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has withdrawn 90 percent of its heavy weaponry from the line of contact in eastern Ukraine, DPR leader Alexander Zakharchenko said Thursday.

“Donetsk has withdrawn 90 percent of heavy weaponry from the line of contact,” the Donetsk news agency quoted him as saying.

Zakharchenko added that Kiev must start the withdrawal before 19:00 Moscow time [16:00 GMT] Friday, otherwise the republic will return its heavy weapons to where they were on February 12, 2015, the day when reconciliation agreements were signed in Minsk.

Earlier on Thursday, the Ukrainian military said the Kiev army had begun the first stage of weapons pullback. The military spokesman also said that the withdrawal would proceed only under OSCE monitoring.

The DPR and the LPR announced that they had started to pull back weapons last week, while Kiev forces refused to follow suit citing the unstable ceasefire regime in the area.

Under the Minsk peace accord worked out by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France, the sides to the Ukrainian conflict committed to implement a ceasefire on February 15 and withdraw heavy weaponry from the line of contact. Under the deal, the withdrawal is scheduled to start no later than on the second day after the ceasefire came into force and is to conclude within 14 days.

Watch the video of Donetsk military hardware being withdrawn under OSCE supervision: