REUTERS
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have begun to pull back tanks from the demarcation line in Donbas, Ukraine's east, as part of the first phase of the withdrawal of weapons in accordance with the peace agreements, the press center of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) has reported, according to Ukrainian TV Channel 112.
"Tanks T-64 and T-72, 85mm-caliber antitank guns D-48 and D-44, and 82mm-caliber mortars 2B-9 will be relocated to certain areas during the withdrawal," the press center said.
All military equipment and weapons will be withdrawn under the supervision of OSCE representatives and the press.
"Under the agreements, the withdrawal process is divided into two phases and will last for 41 days. Prior to the practical phase, the warring parties handed the lists of weapons and military hardware over to the OSCE mission and informed them that the equipment would be removed to certain areas at a distance of not less than 15 kilometers from the demarcation line," the government's ATO spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on September 29, the Trilateral Contact Group consisting of representatives from Ukraine, the OSCE, and Russia signed an agreement in Minsk on the withdrawal of weapons whose caliber was smaller than 100 mm from the Donbas contact line.