Ukrainian govt forces pulling back arms but ready to return them - military operation official
KYIV. March 7 (Interfax) - The Ukrainian government forces are continuing to withdraw their heavy weapons from the line of contact with the militia in the eastern part of the country but are ready to return them to their combat positions at any moment, Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for the antiterrorist operation, said at a news briefing in Kyiv on Saturday.
"The third phase of the withdrawal of heavy military hardware by the Ukrainian armed forces is continuing. In line with the Minsk agreements, the withdrawal of the Uragan MLRs [multiple rocket launchers] to the sites prepared beforehand was started yesterday," Lysenko said.
Ukraine has already withdrawn 100-mm MT-12 Rapira and MT-12-R Ruta antitank cannons, 152-mm Akatsiya self-propelled artillery systems, and BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers, Lysenko said.
The Minsk agreements allot two weeks to the parties to withdraw heavy weapons and hardware to the distances stipulated in the documents, he said.
"We have been doing this for several days. We have withdrawn our heavy weapons day by day and expect our opponent to do the same," he said.
Ukraine is withdrawing its hardware in the presence of international monitors and the media, he said.
At the same time, if the enemy tries to launch an attack, the government forces are ready to start deploying their weapons larger than 100-mm in caliber back to the combat positions any minute, he said.
It was reported earlier that the Ukrainian government forces had started withdrawing 100-mm Rapira guns and then Ruta cannons on February 26, 2S3 Akatsiya artillery systems on March 4, Grad multiple rocket launchers on March 5, and Uragan multiple rocket launchers on March 6.