Ukraine Rebels Say They Withdrawing Weapons, Kiev Doubtful
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Pro-Russia separatists said on Tuesday that they had begun pulling heavy weapons from the front line in east Ukraine under a ceasefire deal, but Ukraine said the rebels were using the cover of the truce to reinforce for another advance.
Fighting has eased in eastern Ukraine in recent days, raising hope that a ceasefire due to start on Feb. 15 can finally take effect after the rebels initially ignored it to storm a government-held town last week.
Since taking the railway hub of Debaltseve in one of the worst defeats for Kiev of the war, the Moscow-backed rebels have indicated they want the truce to take effect. But Kiev says the rebels are still shooting, which the rebels deny.
Western countries have not given up on the ceasefire deal to end fighting that has killed more than 5,600 people, but have made clear they are suspicious of the rebels and their presumed patron, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reuters reported.
European countries have warned of new economic sanctions against Moscow if the rebels advance deeper into territory the Kremlin calls "New Russia". Washington says it could arm Kiev.
"Today at 9 in the morning (1 a.m. ET) the planned withdrawal of heavy equipment started," rebel commander Eduard Basurin told Reuters. "We're pulling it back 50 km (30 miles) from the boundary line ... Of course we won't say exactly where we're pulling it back to."
Basurin denied Ukrainian military reports of fighting in southeast Ukraine, saying there had been "provocations" from the government side but no serious clashes.
But the Kiev military said in a statement that rebel assertions they were pulling back guns were "mere empty words".
"On the contrary, the terrorist groups, making use of the ceasefire period, are reinforcing their units and building up ammunition."
It said one of its soldiers had been killed and seven wounded in the past 24 hours, and repeated that it would not start pulling back weapons until shooting stopped.
"As soon as the fighters implement the ceasefire for two full days, that is the sole signal to start the withdrawal," military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said in a briefing, noting however that fighting had diminished.
Separatist press service DAN reported ten incidents of government shelling near the rebel-held stronghold of Donetsk.
Kiev and its Western allies say the rebels are funded and armed by Moscow, and backed by Russian military units on the ground. Moscow denies aiding sympathisers in Ukraine, and says the heavily armed Russian-speaking troops operating without insignia there are not its men.
