Ukraine’s military on Saturday said it has finished withdrawing its weapons from the eastern front line with pro-Russia rebels, where clashes have erupted in recent days despite a ceasefire.
Ukrainian soldiers withdrew their 82mm mortars from the villages of Pisky and Opytne near the ruins of Donetsk International Airport, which was ravaged by intense fighting last year, army spokesman Oleksandr Zavtonov told reporters.
Kiev’s withdrawal came after pro-Moscow rebels said they pulled out their light arms from the area on Thursday.
A military convoy transporting mortars could be seen moving away from government positions in Pisky toward an arms depot, a journalist said.
A Ukrainian soldier told reporters that troops near the front now have only firearms left.
“We do not respond to the rebels’ provocations or shots, but if we must defend ourselves, we now only have guns, Kalashnikov [rifles] and stones,” 39-year-old Ukrainian 93rd Mechanized Brigade soldier Eduard said.
Saturday’s pullout completed the government’s weapons withdrawal from the Donetsk area and was in line with a trust-building Sept. 1 pact that ordered the withdrawal of all weapons with a caliber of less than 100mm.
While the deal led to a marked de-escalation in one of Europe’s deadliest crises since the Balkans wars of the 1990s, it remains unclear whether this semblance of calm will last.
The plan is to create a 30km to 40km buffer zone in the conflict. A similar withdrawal took place in the separatist Lugansk area last month.
A peace deal signed in February in Minsk calls for a vote to be held in the separatist regions under international auspices. Those elections have now been pushed back to early next year.
Both the government and the rebels say they have honored a pullout deal regarding larger weapons.
However, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), tasked with overseeing the withdrawal, has said some heavy weapons remain deployed on both sides of the frontline.
OSCE chief monitor Ertugrul Apakan this week said that the ceasefire was “largely holding,” but that the situation remains “volatile.”
On Saturday, the government and the separatist rebels exchanged blame over continued violence.
Kiev accused the rebels of firing at their positions using guns, grenade launchers and mortars. Four soldiers were wounded after they stepped on a landmine, the government added.
Meanwhile, the rebels accused Kiev loyalists of pounding Donetsk with a rocket launcher.
“Ukrainian volunteer battalions are bombing Donetsk in order to derail the Minsk [peace] agreement and to provoke a response from us,” separatist defense ministry spokesman Eduard Bassurin said.
The conflict, which erupted in the aftermath of last year’s pro-democracy revolt, has left more than 8,000 people dead.
Russia denies instigating and backing the revolt in reprisal for last year’s ouster of a Moscow-backed president in Ukraine and the subsequent leadership’s decision to tie its future to the EU and the NATO military bloc.
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