Ukraine’s military has said it will start pulling back its heavy weapons from the frontline of its conflict with Russian-backed separatists as required under a ceasefire agreement.

The defence ministry said it reserved the right to revise its withdrawal plans in the event of an attack by rebel forces. It said the first weapons to be pulled back would be 100mm-calibre field guns.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed nearly 5,800 people since April. A peace deal agreed upon this month by the leaders of Russia and Ukraine, brokered by France and Germany, aims to cement a ceasefire and begin a pullback of heavy weapons.



Implementation of that deal is being overseen by an almost 600-strong team from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Before Ukraine’s announcement, Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the OSCE monitoring mission, complained that the warring sides had made little progress in laying the grounds for weapons withdrawal.

Both sides needed to take an inventory of their weapons and provide details about how and where they would be relocated, he said.

“It’s not enough to be invited to follow the removal process part of the way. It has to be complete,” Bociurkiw said. “It’s not a shopping list, you cannot pick and choose.”

Russia denies Ukraine’s charges that it arms and supports the rebels, a denial rejected by western nations and Nato, who point to satellite pictures of Russian military equipment in eastern Ukraine.