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Kiev moves 182 units of military equipment to contact line in Donbas over last week — DPR

According to DPR defense ministry's spokesman, 86 self-propelled artillery systems, Grad multiple rocket launcher systems, artillery and armored vehicles were spotted on the Gorlovka direction

MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. Ukrainian Armed Forces have moved 182 units of military equipment and 420 personnel to the contact line in Donbas over the last week, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) defense ministry spokesman Eduard Basurin said on Monday.

"DPR intelligence continues registering movement of military equipment and personnel of Ukrainian Armed Forces along the entire contact line," Donetsk News Agency quoted Basurin as saying.

Basurin said that 86 self-propelled artillery systems, Grad multiple rocket launcher systems, artillery and armored vehicles were spotted on the Gorlovka direction. Kiev also moved 12 multiple rocket launcher systems, six D-30 howitzers, 22 tanks and armored personnel carriers, along with 100 personnel, on the Donetsk direction.

DPR defense ministry also said that 56 units of Ukrainian military equipment were spotted on the Mariupol direction, in particular, 15 self-propelled artillery systems, 13 multiple rocket launcher systems, 20 tanks and armored vehicles, three Rapira anti-tank guns, five vehicles with ammunition and 320 personnel, including 200 foreign mercenaries.

The withdrawal of weaponry in Donbas 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In accordance with the reached agreement, tanks were withdrawn first, followed by artillery weapons of less than 100mm caliber and mortars.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.