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OSCE confirms pullback of heavy weapons by pro-Russians in Ukraine

Iran Press TV

Tue Mar 3, 2015 8:20AM

Pro-Russia forces in eastern Ukraine are withdrawing their heavy weapons from the frontline in the area in compliance with a peace deal signed last month, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has confirmed.

In a report published on Monday, the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine said the pro-Russians in the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are pulling back their heavy weapons, without mentioning any similar action by the Ukrainian government troops.

"The SMM monitored four separate Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) convoys in the Donetsk region," the report said, citing the pullback of "four tracked Howitzers, one military-style jeep and one support truck" at a location five kilometers east of Donetsk on February 28 as an example.

"The SMM followed each DPR… convoy on routes leading from the contact line to locations described by the respective DPR convoy commanders as being the final destination for this equipment, behind the relevant withdrawal line," the report said.

According to the report, "the SMM was escorted by members of the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) from Luhansk to three artillery positions in LPR-controlled Brianka (50km west of Luhansk), two of them empty of heavy weapons."

This comes as the Ukrainian army has failed to withdraw any "considerable" number of artillery systems from the frontline, DPR spokesman Eduard Basurin said on Monday.

"Kiev's delays in fulfilling its liabilities concerning the pullout of heavy weapons from the actual line of engagement create prerequisites for disrupting the implementation of the Minsk agreements by the Ukrainian side," Basurin added.

He also accused the Ukrainian government of not meeting any of its obligations under the Minsk deal, which was signed after talks in the Belarusian capital city on February 11-12.

During the negotiations, the leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine agreed on the withdrawal of heavy weapons from Ukraine's frontlines and a ceasefire, which officially went into effect on February 14. The warring sides, however, have continued to engage in sporadic clashes.

The two mainly Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk have been hit by deadly clashes between pro-Russia forces and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations in April last year to crush pro-Russia protests there.

In May 2014, the situation in the two flashpoint regions started to worsen as residents overwhelmingly voted for independence from Ukraine in referendums.

The fighting has taken a heavy toll on thousands of people. More than 5,800 people have died in the conflict, the UN says. Around 1.5 million people have also been forced from their homes over the past months of the turmoil.

MSM/HJL/HMV