Interfax: DPR Defense Ministry has no information about Ukrainian heavy arms withdrawal

DONETSK. Feb 20 (Interfax) – The Ukrainian army has yet to begin the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the line of contact consistent with the Minsk deal, the command of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) army said.

“The DPR Defense Ministry does not have information about the pullout of Ukrainian heavy armaments from the line of contact,” Eduard Basurin of the Defense Ministry of the DPR, told reporters on Friday.

As to the proportion of volunteer battalions and regular Ukrainian troops, Basurin said: “The units stationed around our republic have approximately 50,000-60,000 men, but see how many members the nationalist battalions have (17 battalions, 500-600 servicemen in each). Moreover, 83% of battalion members are fighting for ideological reasons and the rest have other motivations.”

Speaking of regular army units, the militia representative wondered why the media “think that there are no people fighting for an idea in the army.”