DONETSK. July 2 (Interfax-AVN) - The leaders of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) have not ruled out a de-militarization of certain populated areas, if a similar experience in Shyrokyne (a village near Mariupol) proves successful.
"We'll see how the demilitarization of Shyrokyne ends, the issue there is unambiguous. If the experience proves positive, then we too will consider [the possibility of de-militarization]," LPR authorized representative Vladislav Deinego told reporters.
He criticized Kyiv's reaction to the de-militarization of Shyrokyne by the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
"There [in Shyrokyne] we are making concessions and reasonable compromises. But the Ukrainian side has operated with the same methods as in the Minsk process, saying one thing, doing another," Deinego said.
Donetsk militias announced earlier on Thursday that they had left Shyrokyne. "The DPR army has pulled out all its forces from Shyrokyne. Today Shyrokyne is totally deserted. The OSCE is working on a plan to monitor the ceasefire in Shyrokyne," senior DPR defense official Eduard Basurin told reporters.
Previously, one part of Shyrokyne had been controlled by the Ukrainian army, another by militias.
"The issue of de-militarization of Shyrokyne is being decided unilaterally. The DPR authorities and the OSCE are discussing the procedural aspects of troops' withdrawal," Basurin said. The OSCE should organize the patrolling of positions abandoned by militias to prevent Ukrainian troops from taking them, he said. "Otherwise, it will be direct violation of the Minsk agreements," he said.