E Ukraine's Breakaway Republics Complete Heavy Weaponry Withdrawal

The withdrawal of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's heavy arms was completed in the presence of OSCE monitors, a DPR official says. The LPR has also fulfilled the pullout and has provided the OSCE mission with all necessary information, according to the republic's prime minister.

DONETSK (Sputnik) — East Ukraine's self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk (DPR and LPR) completed the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the contact line, the DPR's and LPR's officials said Sunday.

The pullout of heavy artillery is one of the key points of the ceasefire deal, reached by Kiev forces and independence supporters in February.

“The withdrawal of the DPR’s heavy weaponry was completed in the presence of OSCE monitors. The Ukrainian forces are also withdrawing the weaponry, but have not specified to the coordination center how many and where had they pulled out,” Eduard Basurin told RIA Novosti.

The LPR has also completed to pull out weapons and has provided the OSCE mission with all necessary information, according to the republic's Prime Minister Gennady Tsypkalov.

According to Basurin, the Ukrainian army withdrew just 15 percent of heavy weaponry as of Saturday.

The warring sides first agreed to withdraw heavy artillery from the front lines back in September 2014. However, the clashes have continued and further intensified in early 2015.

The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France negotiated a new deal on February 12. Apart from the ceasefire that came into force on February 15 and heavy weaponry withdrawal, the 13 points of the agreement include an "all-for-all" prisoners exchange.