Updated 12.21 p.m. Moscow Time
DONETSK, September 23 (RIA Novosti) – Independence forces in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk have withdrawn their artillery from the line of contact, following an agreement made in Minsk earlier this month, the military command of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) said Tuesday.
"In line with the agreements, self-defense forces withdrew artillery units from the line of contact," a DPR spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said that Ukrainian forces have also started a partial withdrawal of their military hardware and artillery from previously occupied positions in the Luhansk Region.
At the same time, government troops have "continued to regroup their forces and fortify positions" near Donetsk, the source said.
Early Saturday morning representatives from Russia, Ukraine, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) formulated a memorandum of nine provisions that will regulate the implementation of a ceasefire agreement between Kiev and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine, reached during talks in Minsk on September 5.
The memorandum is also based on the peace plan proposed by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in May and the initiatives unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 3.
The memorandum envisages the establishment of a 17-mile-long buffer zone. One of the provisions sets forth that all weapons more than 100 millimeters in diameter be moved at least 15 kilometers away from the contact line on both sides, including from residential areas, which would create an opportunity to establish a buffer zone.
