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Donbas militia accuse Kiev of moving 26 units of military equipment to contact line

DPR intelligence spotted 20 self-propelled artillery systems, armored personnel carriers and vehicles near the Nikolaevka settlement and 6 Grad rocket launcher systems on the Gorlovka direction

© Stepan Petrenko/TASS Archive

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Media claim volunteer battalions are getting prepared for offensive in Donbas

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Ukrainian forces have moved 26 units of military equipment to the contact line in Donbas, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) defense ministry said on Tuesday.

"Donetsk People’s Republic’s intelligence continues registering movement of military equipment and Ukrainian Armed Forces’ personnel along the entire contact line," the DPR defense ministry told Donetsk News Agency.

According to DPR defense ministry, intelligence spotted 20 self-propelled artillery systems, armored personnel carriers and vehicles near the Nikolaevka settlement (Donetsk direction, eight kilometers from contact line), and six Grad multiple rocket launcher systems on the Gorlovka direction in 42 kilometers from the contact line.

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Weaponry withdrawal in Donbas

The withdrawal of weaponry was completed in three stages — firstly, from the Deblatsevo direction, then from the southern direction and lastly from the contact line near Donetsk.

The supplement to the Package of measures on implementing the Minsk Agreements from 12 February 2015 was agreed upon on September 29 at the negotiations of the Contact Group in Minsk. The supplement envisages withdrawal of tanks, artillery weapons of less than 100mm caliber, and mortars of equal to or less than 120mm caliber to a distance of 15 kilometers from the contact line in Donbass. On September 30, the document was signed by DPR head Alexander Zakharchenko and LPR head Igor Plotnitsky.

In accordance with the reached agreement, tanks were withdrawn first, followed by artillery weapons of less than 100mm caliber and mortars. The first stage started two days after the complete ceasefire and finished in 15 days. The second stage took 24 days to complete. The withdrawal started in the "North" sector on the LPR territory and continued in the "South" sector in DPR. The whole process of withdrawal took a total of 41 days.

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