KIEV, March 5. /TASS/. Ukrainian military commanders in charge of the military operation in eastern Ukraine are ready to begin withdrawal of Uragan multiple rocket launch systems from the areas adjoining the line of contact as of March 6, Andriy Lysenko, the speaker for the operation told a news briefing on Thursday.
"The Ukrainian Armed Forces are prepared to withdraw the Uragan multiple rocket launchers as of tomorrow," he said.
The first phase of heavy weaponry pullout was completed on March 4.
"A second phase began as of Wednesday and it includes the pullout of 152 mm Akatsiya artillery mounts," Lysenko said. "Also, we continue the withdrawal of Grad multiple launch systems."
The information of a new stage of artillery systems withdrawal from the areas of combat contact with the militias of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk republics was released earlier by the staff of the Ukrainian forces.
"BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launchers are being redeployed to specially equipped areas," the staff of the so-called Anti-Terrorist Operation said on it page in Facebook.
Denis Pushilin, the official representative of the Donetsk People’s Republic to the consultations of the Contact Group for peace settlement in southeastern Ukraine Kiev had promised to begin the pullback of heavy weapons from the line of contact in Donbass as of March 7.
"That’s important for us because we completed the withdrawal of weaponry ahead of schedule," he said.
According to earlier reports, the militia fully completed pullout of heavy weaponry by March 1.
Pullout of heavy weapons from the areas adjoining the line of contact in eastern Ukraine is envisioned in the Complex of Measures Essential for Implementation of the Minsk Accords that was endorsed at the end of the marathon four-partite talks in Minsk on February 12.