The withdrawal of heavy artillery is one of the key points of the ceasefire deal, reached by Kiev forces and Ukraine’s breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in February.
“The first stage of the 100-mm ‘Rapira’ [anti-tank] guns pullout is coming to an end,” Stelmakh said, adding that the stage would be completed on Sunday.
The self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk said they completed the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the line of contact earlier on Sunday.
“As soon as we see that there is no shelling of our positions, we will continue to withdraw the artillery of other calibers,” he said.
Stelmakh was unable to specify what portion of Kiev's heavy weapons had already been withdrawn. Earlier, deputy commander of the Donetsk militia Eduard Basurin claimed that the Ukrainian army had pulled out only 15 percent of its heavy weaponry as of Saturday.
