Pro-Russian militants fire shots in memory of fallen colleagues Saturday near Donetsk, Ukraine. (Dimitar Dilkoff, AFP/Getty Images)
NOVOAMVROSIIVSKE, Ukraine With cameras and clipboards in hand, teams of blue-jacketed international observers drive around the muddy countryside of eastern Ukraine looking for rocket launchers and artillery.
Their task is to verify whether government troops and Russian-backed rebel forces are removing heavy weapons from the front line in accordance with a February cease-fire. The success of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe monitoring mission would lessen the chances that heavy fighting will resume in a conflict that has left more than 6,000 dead in a year.
Evidence is emerging, however, that the warring sides are leading monitors on a time-wasting game of hide-and-seek.
Distrust between foes remains intense, and anxiety lingers that a new flare-up could be just around the corner.
On Friday, an Associated Press journalist saw two tanks and two 120mm guns being taken toward the front in rebel territory, near the separatist-held city of Donetsk. Two days earlier, Ukrainian troops were seen transporting a tank and a large-caliber gun in the town of Avdiivka, which also lies right on the front line.
None of the weapons should have been there. Under a peace deal negotiated between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, anything with a caliber of 100mm or above should be pulled back 15 to 45 miles from the front.
The weapons withdrawal began the last week of February, and both sides claim to have completed the process. But the OSCE says that to make sure the pullbacks happened, it must know how many weapons each side has and where they are.
"Some information has been provided from both sides, but we still need substantial information," said Michael Bociurkiw, the OSCE mission spokesman.
On Friday, a group of inspectors in rebel territory traveled from Donetsk to Novoamvrosiivske, a village near the Russian border where AP journalists on Feb. 26 followed four trucks carrying Grad launchers to a cement factory.
See the article here:
Ukraine's cease-fire weakened by weapons violations