Kiev's Withdrawal of Heavy Arms Conducted Without OSCE Monitors – Donetsk

Kiev's pullback of heavy weaponry was conducted without the OSCE monitors in violation of the Minsk agreements on the ceasefire, a self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic's official said.

DONETSK (Sputnik) – Ukrainian forces withdrew 15 percent of heavy weaponry from the line of contact in Donbas, the deputy commander of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) forces said Saturday.

"According to our information, they [Kiev troops] withdrew 15 percent of weapons," Eduard Basurin told journalists.

He also said that the pullback was conducted without the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors in violation of the Minsk agreements on the ceasefire.

Basurin noted that the Kiev troops' weapons were withdrawn not to the stipulated distance but to a point which allows to quickly bring them back within an hour.

The regions of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine and Kiev forces agreed to withdraw heavy arms from the line of contact back in September 2014, when the first ceasefire deal was reached in Minsk, Belarus.

However, the warring sides failed to maintain the ceasefire, and hostilities continued. On February 15, ceasefire came into force under a new deal worked out by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, Germany and France earlier in the month.

The deal, among other steps, envisages the withdrawal of heavy artillery from the line of contact. On Thursday, Kiev began to pull back heavy weapons, while Donetsk forces said they had withdrawn 90 percent of its heavy weaponry by that time.