UKRAINE-CRISIS/DEBALTSEVE-WITHDRAWAL Rebel forces in Donetsk claim to continue pulling back APCs from frontline

Record ID: 146448

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/DEBALTSEVE-WITHDRAWAL Rebel forces in Donetsk claim to continue pulling back APCs from frontline
  • Date: 21st July 2015
  • Summary: SANZHARIVKA, NEAR DEBALTSEVE, UKRAINE (JULY 21, 2015) (REUTERS) APC DRIVING BY AS MONITORS FROM ORGANISATION FOR SECURITY AND COOPERATION IN EUROPE (OSCE) AND MEDIA OBSERVE OSCE STANDING NEXT TO CAR APC DRIVING APC DRIVING AWAY, SELF-PROCLAIMED DONETSK PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC FLAG UKRAINIAN OFFICER WATCHING OSCE OBSERVERS AND JOURNALISTS WATCHING AS APC DRIVING BY UKRAINIAN OFFI
  • Embargoed: 5th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVACIQ4VC1DNCEBVE9XM98P5XCX5
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk region said they were pulling back tanks and military hardware from the conflict contact line for a third day in a row on Tuesday (July 21).
    The group said they were pulling back APC further away on Tuesday from the village of Sanzharivka to nearby village Novohryhorivka, both near the town of Debaltseve in Donetsk region.
    Media were invited to film rebel fighters atop a convoy of armoured personnel carriers being moved as monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and a Ukrainian soldier observed.
    Rebels say the withdrawal is in accordance with a ceasefire agreement reached in the Belarussian capital Minsk, in February.
    Steps yet to be fully implemented under the 13-point agreement reached in the Belarussian capital of Minsk include withdrawals of heavy weapons.
    The next round of talks in Minsk commenced on Tuesday and rebels say they are committed to the ceasefire agreement.
    The OSCE, which is monitoring the ceasefire, has said neither side has fully withdrawn heavy artillery from the frontline as required by the peace deal.
    More than 6,500 people have been killed since the conflict broke out in eastern Ukraine in April last year. Attacks have lessened since a peace agreement was brokered in Minsk, Belarus, five months ago, but both sides accuse each other of violations.
    There are daily casualties across east Ukraine and shells hit central Donetsk on Saturday (July 18) for the first time since the truce was agreed. One civilian was killed.
    Kiev last Wednesday (July 15) reported that eight government soldiers had been killed in the previous 24 hours, one of the highest tolls in months over such a short period.
    With Russia and the rebels accusing Ukraine's leaders of not implementing all the terms of the ceasefire agreement, and Kiev and the West blaming the truce's fragility on Moscow and the rebels, it is an uneasy peace. Diplomacy involving France and Germany has failed to have much impact.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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