Today, on November 9, after the parties simultaneously launched flares of white and green colours, confirming their readiness to proceed to the withdrawal, as well as notifying directly about the beginning of the process to eliminate violations, the DPR People’s Militia and the armed formations of Ukraine simultaneously began withdrawing their units from the disengagement site. The OSCE SMM recorded in a protocol the withdrawal of 14 personnel, NSV Utyos and AGS by the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Mission also confirmed that the corresponding command to withdraw armaments had been given to the Ukrainian party, and the monitors have recorded the redeployment of an IFV.
According to the scheduled plan approved by the Contact Group, three days are allocated for these activities. Due to minor violations on our part, the withdrawal of the DPR People’s Militia personnel was completed in full by 15:00 this day. The Ukrainian party will need all three days to eliminate violations.
As will be recalled, on October 7, 2016, in the area of Petrovskoye there took place the disengagement of the parties, provided for by the Framework decision of the Contact Group of September 21. On March 10, 2018, the Mission for the first time recorded the presence of armoured combat vehicles, trenches, firing positions and AFU’s dugouts on the site. Since the first violation to the present, the OSCE SMM has documented 76 facts of positional violations by the EFU.
The Donetsk People’s Republic has repeatedly made attempts pursuant to paragraph 5 of the Framework Decision to reach a consensus regarding the elimination of violations, but the Ukrainian party took an extremely destructive position, going so far as to deny its obvious violations recorded by the Mission. 20 months after the OSCE SMM recorded the first violation by the AFU, thanks to the intervention of the Normandy Four, it became possible to unblock the dialogue on the need to eliminate violations on the previously disengaged site and agree upon disengagement dates which have been repeatedly disrupted by the Ukrainian armed forces.
Despite the difficulties of the negotiation process, a compromise had been reached and the process of eliminating violations was launched this day on the previously disengaged site No. 3 Petrovskoye-Bogdanovka. The Representative Office of the DPR to the JCCC and the negotiation process welcomes Kiev’s starting actual actions to achieve peace and declares with full responsibility that the DPR People’s Militia is ready to fully comply with all of its obligations. We hope that the opposite party will demonstrate political far-sightedness and all activities will be executed without upheaval within the strictly agreed terms.