UKRAINE-CRISIS/DONETSK WITHDRAWAL Pro-Russian separatists pull back APCs from frontline around Donetsk region

Record ID: 146638

  • Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/DONETSK WITHDRAWAL Pro-Russian separatists pull back APCs from frontline around Donetsk region
  • Date: 20th July 2015
  • Summary: DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE (JULY 20, 2015) (REUTERS) PRO-RUSSIAN SEPARATIST FIGHTERS ON TOP OF ARMOURED PERSONNEL CARRIERS (APC) VARIOUS OF APC CONVOY DRIVING ALONG ROAD VARIOUS OF APC CONVOY DRIVING AWAY ALONG ROAD VARIOUS OF APC CONVOY MOVING ALONG ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) REBEL BATTALION COMMANDER, SENIOR LIEUTENANT CHAIKOVSKY, SAYING: "Currently, the withdrawal of milit
  • Embargoed: 4th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ukraine
  • Country: Ukraine
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA97DK2V7UZKUMTXEIE19CJEKDJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine claimed to be pulling back tanks and military vehicles from the conflict frontline on Monday (July 20).
    Media were invited to film rebel fighters atop a convoy of armoured personnel carriers stationed near the village of Style, some 30 kilometres south of Donetsk, before the convoy started moving away.
    Commander of a rebel battalion of the self proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, senior lieutenant Chaikovsky, said the vehicles were being pulled in accordance with a ceasefire agreement reached in the Belarussian capital Minsk, in February.
    "Currently the withdrawal of military vehicles is underway according to the Minsk-2 agreement, behind the contact line, three kilometres from frontline positions. At this moment we have withdrawn BMP-1 (APC) from the seventh squadron, marched to the position, and we will be located here now," said Chaikovsky.
    This comes only a day after the Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists accused each other of shelling residential districts of separatist-held Donetsk overnight, in what was the first such attack on central parts of the city since the February ceasefire agreement.
    Late on Saturday (July 18), rebels said the attacks had killed one civilian, destroyed buildings and started several fires in the city.
    With the next round of talks in Minsk set to commence on Tuesday (July 21), senior rebel commander Eduard Basurin said separatists were committed to the agreement.
    "As you have seen it is the second day that we show that we are withdrawing vehicles from the contact line from various locations on the contact line, today we withdrew five tanks and 77 APCs from different points," Basurin told reporters on Monday.
    "Tomorrow, withdrawal will continue, I wish to underline that what we are doing is our own initiative," said Basurin.
    "This was our suggestion to Kiev. (We did this) without waiting for additional agreements to be signed on the withdrawal of arms less than 100 mm. (in calibre). We did this on our own initiative to show that we want to resolve the problem that appeared here."
    The rebel commander added that he expected Kiev to uphold its part of the agreement.
    "So, we hope that again the Ukrainian authorities will hear us and will not accuse us of simply putting on provocative demonstrations, and that they will do the same thing on their part. I think in this scenario the shelling of the populated areas will seriously decrease."
    The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (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.
    The next round of the Contact Group peace talks on Ukraine will be held with the participation of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic.
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