DPR Envoy Slams Kiev's 'Populist' Movement Restrictions in Donbas

MOSCOW, January 3 (Sputnik) — Restricting movement across the special operation zone in Ukraine's Donbas is an unmanageable and populist task, the Donetsk people's republic (DPR) Minsk peace talks envoy said on Saturday.

"[Oleksandr] Turchynov's statement is populist and logically unmotivated. Only civilians will be affected by this decision," Denis Pushilin was quoted as saying by Donetsk News Agency.

Earlier on Saturday, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) secretary Oleksandr Turchynov announced the blocking of all but seven corridors through the line of contact in Ukraine's Donbas. The NSDC secretary cited "complex anti-terrorist activities" as grounds for limiting movement across the region.

Pushilin added that it was "unclear how the Ukrainian armed forces will be able to control such a huge part of the border."

On December 16, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) reported the withdrawal of large caliber weapons from southeast Ukraine by the DPR and the Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), while the Ukrainian army claimed to follow suit after the full cessation of hostilities.

Both Kiev and the self-proclaimed southeast Ukrainian republics have repeatedly accused each other of violating a ceasefire agreement brokered by the OSCE in September. However, headway was made on December 9 with the "silence regime" declared in a bid to resume peace negotiations between the sides.

Kiev's military operations against independence supporters date back to April 2014, when the Russian-speaking population in eastern Ukraine refused to acknowledge the central government imposed in a February coup.