KIEV, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian army and pro-independence insurgents on Tuesday accused each other of disrupting the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the contact line in eastern Ukraine.
"Today, the pullout of heavy weapons again was derailed by the Ukrainian side. Ukraine reaffirmed unwillingness to fulfill its obligations," an unnamed official from the rebel operational command was quoted as saying by the insurgent-run DAN news agency.
Commenting on the statements, Ukrainian military spokesman Leonid Matyukhin described it as a "provocation". He accused the insurgents of breaching the ceasefire, which is a key condition for the weapon withdrawal.
"Today, the illegal armed groups used heavy weapons of 120-millimeter caliber in Donetsk and Mariupol directions," Matyukhin told local media.
On midnight Monday, the Ukrainian army and insurgents started a new round of ceasefire. The pullback of their heavy weapons was due to begin 24 hours after the complete truce.
The withdrawal of heavy weapons is a part of the Minsk agreement, which is designed to put an end to the almost three-year-old conflict in east Ukraine that has killed about 10,000 people.
