ILOVAYSK, Ukraine — Separatists moved some heavy weapons well back from the front line Tuesday in eastern Ukraine, but the Ukrainian government disputed the rebels’ claim that a real pullback had begun.
A peace plan worked out Feb. 12 aims to create a buffer zone between the two sides’ artillery, part of efforts to end the conflict that has left nearly 5,800 dead since April. Heavy weapons are to be pulled back 15 to 45 miles from the front line, depending on their caliber.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said rebel shelling of Ukrainian positions had to stop before Ukraine can start withdrawing its artillery.
“You can’t pull out … while shelling is coming down on you,” he said.
Russia denies Ukrainian and Western claims that it is supplying the rebels with troops and equipment, but Western officials and NATO insist that satellite photos show Russian military equipment in Ukraine.
Eduard Basurin, a rebel commander in the Donetsk region, said his side had begun a pullback of heavy weapons, but the claim could not be verified. A website quoted him as saying about 100 122-mm howitzers would be involved.
Associated Press reporters said they saw about a dozen howitzers moved from Donetsk, the largest rebel-held city, to the town of Ilovaysk 12 miles to the east. That would put them roughly within the 15-mile pullback criterion for weapons of that size.
Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the international team monitoring the fighting, said he couldn’t confirm any pullback until receiving monitors’ reports, which he hadn’t yet received.
Ukraine’s military dismissed rebel pullback claim, adding its forces would not withdraw weapons until a cease-fire takes hold.
The rebels “are just regrouping their gangs and are relocating their weapons,” Ukrainian military spokesman Col. Andriy Lysenko told reporters. “As soon as there is a cease-fire for two days, that is the signal to start a withdrawal.”
British Prime Minister David Cameron said Tuesday that up to 75 military personnel will deploy to Ukraine next month to advise and train government forces. And a U.S. military official said the Pentagon will deploy up to 10 troops to western Ukraine to give combat medical training to forces.
