Kyiv, March 5, 2015. Ukrainian Armed Forces are ready to start removing Uragan multiple rocket launchers as part of the third stage of the withdrawal process in accordance with Minsk agreements. The media is invited to cover the event in Artemivsk railway station scheduled for tomorrow, 11 am. The first stage of removing 100-mm MT-12 Rapira and MT-12R Ruta anti-tank guns has been successfully concluded. The second stage started yesterday: 2S3 Akatsia artillery pieces and “Grad” multiple rocket launchers are currently withdrawn from the contact line. “OSCE Special Monitoring Mission as well as Ukrainian and international media monitor and cover the whole process. However, if militants decide to launch an offensive, the military command of Ukraine is ready to return heavy weapons back to the combat positions in the shortest terms,” said Col. Andriy Lysenko, ATO spokesperson, at a briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center. Pro-Russian militants actively regroup their forces, particularly at the Volnovakha direction. They also try to hide their weapons and military equipment in storage facilities, while building up their forces along the contact line.
Russia-backed militants fired at the Ukrainian positions 35 times yesterday. The main hotspots of the conflict have been Shchastia, Luhanske, areas around the Donetsk airport and Shyrokyne, which is near Mariupol. Ceasefire has been adhered to over the last night. Peaceful localities in the Donetsk sector came under fire as well. One female worker of Ukraine’s Emergency Service died as a result of mortar shelling of Avdiivka. “One Ukrainian serviceman was killed and 1 got wounded in the last 24 hours,” the ATO spokesperson noted.
According to the intelligence report, Debaltseve railway hub has been restored. “Insurgents use it to transport weapons and the military equipment. For instance, they unloaded ammunition on 3 March there,” Col. Lysenko explained.
Pro-Russian insurgents intend to fire over 1,000 employees of “Luhanskteplovoz” PJSC (locomotive production plant), which was completely shut down in early March under the orders of the militants’ Russian masters.
The Government of Ukraine ordered to provide UAH 1,8 bln to particular companies in order to reimburse monthly salaries to those workers who have been mobilized.
A new temporary settlement was opened in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region, yesterday. It was designed to accommodate 456 internally displaced persons who fled eastern Ukraine. All houses have beds, bed linen, furniture, kitchen utensils, fridges and hygiene items. Overall, 5 temporary settlements were built in Dnipropetrovsk region as a result of the assistance program led by the Government of Germany
Czech NGO “People in Need” dispatched five trucks with 110 tons humanitarian cargo including construction materials, medicine, kitchen utensils and clothes to help Sloviansk residents. The trucks have crossed into Ukraine at “Krakivets” border crossing point in Lviv region. Furthermore, more aid from the International Committee of the Red Cross, which contained food sets, blankets and hygiene items, was delivered and distributed among residents of Dobropilsky district of Donetsk region on March 4.
