DONETSK (Sputnik) — On July 18, DPR, along with Lugansk People's Republics (LPR), announced the unilateral withdrawal of weapons with a caliber of less than 100mm to a distance of at least 1.8 miles from the line of contact with government troops. The withdrawal process is being controlled by the OSCE monitors.
On Sunday, a spokesman for the General Staff of Ukraine said that the Kiev forces did not receive an order to withdraw weapons with a caliber of less than 100mm.
Earlier on Monday, OSCE said that it is unable to state unequivocally that all the weapons that were withdrawn from the contact line are at the places of dislocation, because the organization’s monitors did not receive access to some of the pieces of military equipment, while some other pieces of weaponry were not where they were expected to be.
“If the representatives of the OSCE are interested in the early realization of peace, than it would be useful that such scrupulousness in the assessments of the recent developments would be aimed primarily towards those who do not do anything at all to demilitarize the contact line,” Basurin said as quoted by the Donetsk news agency.
According to UN estimates, the conflict in eastern Ukraine has killed over 6,500 people since its start in April 2014.
Under the February ceasefire deal, both Kiev forces and Donbass independence supporters were to remove heavy weapons with a caliber of over 100mm, creating an 18-mile buffer zone.
