Rebels start withdrawing heavy artillery in Ukraine cease-fire

KIEV, Ukraine – Both government troops and pro-Russian rebels began withdrawing heavy artillery in the east of the country, Ukrainian officials said Monday, a significant step toward implementing an effective cease-fire in the region.

Col. Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, said Kiev’s forces had started withdrawing from frontline positions. He said the rebels had also begun their withdrawal of heavy artillery, although it was “not as massive as we expected.”

“We are seeing a trend that (the rebels) are reducing their use of heavy armed weaponry,” Lysenko told journalists in Kiev. He said neither Kiev nor the rebels had completed their withdrawals, but said he hoped the rebels “will follow the example of the Ukrainian servicemen.”

A cease-fire imposed Sept. 5 has been riddled by violations from the start, adding civilian casualties to the estimated 3,000 people who have been killed since the conflict began in April.

On Monday, explosions were heard in the north of the rebel-held city of Donetsk, where fighting in recent weeks centered on a government-held airport has caught many residential areas in the crossfire. Later, smoke rose over a neighborhood in that area and rebels blocked an Associated Press photographer from traveling there.

Lysenko said two Ukrainian servicemen had been killed in the past day.

Ukraine, Russia and the Moscow-backed rebels last week signed an agreement to further the peace process by halting advances and pull back heavy artillery, creating a buffer zone between them.

The deal, supported by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, also specifically bans flights by combat aircraft over the area of conflict and setting up new minefields.

It could be a significant step forward in finally bringing an end to the simmering conflict, although negotiators have not yet addressed the future status of the rebel regions, the most politically controversial issue.

In an interview with Ukrainian news channels released late Sunday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko pleaded with the public to give the peace deal time to work.

“Solving the war in Luhansk and Donetsk with military alone is impossible,” he said.