OREANDA-NEWS. The official representative of the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) Rinat Aigistov stated that the Ukrainian authorities are sabotaging the process of the withdrawal of forces, which was supposed to begin on October 7 in the towns of Zolotoe and Petrovskoye.

According to him, it is confirmed by the statement of the Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vadym Prystaiko, who announced that this process was postponed, and also warned that the Ukrainian armed forces did not intend to dismantle the fortifications during the withdrawal of forces from the front line. This is done “in violation of all agreements reached,” so that the forces of Ukraine can return to them, Aigistov emphasized.

The representative of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) in the political subgroup of the contact group in Minsk Rodion Miroshnik noted that the agreement does not provide for 7 days of “silence” (Kiev insists on fulfilling this condition before starting the process). According to Miroshnik, the Ukrainians fire at their own positions to disrupt the implementation of the agreement.

In 2016 in Minsk the agreement on the withdrawal of military forces in Donbass was signed. At the beginning of October 2019, the participants of the contact group agreed on a schedule for the separation of forces in the towns of Zolotoe and Petrovskoye, or to correct the violations, since the first attempt to carry out the separation of troops was made in 2016. On October 7 the parties were supposed to notify the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe of the current location of their positions. The DPR and LPR have fulfilled this obligation.