Kyiv accuses DPR of shelling Ukrainian positions and disrupting withdrawal of forces in Donbas
The withdrawal of forces and weapons near the village of Bogdanivka in the Donetsk region has been postponed again for at least a week. According to the Command of the Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation, "militants of illegal armed groups opened fire using grenade launchers and small arms in the area," UNIAN news agency reports.
As a result, three Ukrainian soldiers were wounded, one was killed, the Ukrainian military command said.
According to Kyiv, before the withdrawal of troops the near the towns of Zolote and Bogdanivka-Petrovske, a seven-day period without shelling is necessary.
At a press conference in Kyiv on October 1, Ukrainian President Zelensky said that Ukraine had agreed to the text of the Steinmeier Formula at the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk.
He emphasized that elections could only take place in the occupied Donbas territories if Kyiv is given full control of the parts of the Russian border in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are currently not under its control.
On September 12, Zelensky said that Kyiv would insist on a Normandy Format session in September. He said that the leaders of the four represented countries would discuss the “Steinmeier Formula and all aspects of the Minsk Agreements”.
The formula was proposed by former German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. He said that the Donbas should be given a “special status” on the day that elections are held in the occupied territories, with the simultaneous withdrawal of illegal armed groups.