Ukraine
starts light weapons withdrawal in east: military
Send a link to a friend
[October 05, 2015]
KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine has started
withdrawing tanks and light artillery from the frontline in the eastern
region of Luhansk in accordance with a recent agreement with pro-Russian
separatists, the Ukrainian military said on Monday.
|
Ukraine and separatist leaders agreed last week to extend a
pull-back of weapons in eastern Ukraine, which rebels said could
mean an "end to the war" with the Ukrainian government.
"Today at 11.00 in Luhansk region we began a simultaneous removal of
T-64 and T-72 tanks and in some places anti-tank artillery D-48 and
D-44 and ... mortars," spokesman Ruslan Tkachuk said on Facebook.
Ukraine has 360 tanks in the conflict zone and 1,400 armored
personnel carriers, according to military data published at the end
of August.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Oct/05/images/ads/current/graue_sda_june2015.png)
Tkachuk said the withdrawal had been agreed with representatives of
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and
should be completed within the next 14 days.
A ceasefire is holding in eastern territories, with both sides
reporting few or no violations.
On Saturday, a senior rebel official said separatists would begin
withdrawing their weapons after Oct. 18 "on the condition that it is
quiet", rebel website DAN reported.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/ads/current/richardson_lda_040113.png)
Fighting between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists in
Ukraine's eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions has killed more than
8,000 people since mid-April 2014.
(Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Editing by Gareth Jones)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Oct/05/images/ads/current/ccaonline_lda050208.png) |