Over 90% of Ukraine troops withdrawn from key town
More than 90% of Ukrainian forces have been withdrawn from the strategic rail hub of Debaltseve and its surroundings in the east of the country, a military spokesman said Thursday.
Anatoliy Stelmakh also said that rebels heavily shelled a village on the outskirts of the government-controlled port of Mariupol.
Debaltseve fell to Russia-backed separatists Wednesday after weeks of fighting. It was unclear when the Ukrainian troops' retreat might be completed.
The town links the separatist cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, making its control a significant strategic gain for the rebels. Separatists have reported taking hundreds of soldiers captive.
Maciej Popowski, a top EU official, said the 28-member bloc will provide armored cars and satellite imagery to monitor the cease-fire, which came into effect Sunday, but is undecided whether to commit troops to a proposed U.N.-mandated peacekeeping mission.
France's Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which is responsible for monitoring the cease-fire, would send 400 observers to Ukraine. The EU and NATO have urged the separatists to allow OSCE observers to monitor the cease-fire deal.
Meanwhile, British Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said Russian president Vladimir Putin poses a "real and present danger" to the Baltic states, and that NATO is preparing to respond to any aggression, the Times of London reported Thursday.
Fallon said the Russian leader was as much of a threat to Europe as the Islamic State extremist group, and that Latvia, Lithuania or Estonia could be in the firing line, according to the paper.
Fallon spoke to journalists from the Times of London and the Telegraph on a flight to Sierra Leone, where British troops are helping to tackle the deadly Ebola outbreak.
His comments came after British Prime Minister David Cameron called on Europe to tell Russia it faces economic and financial consequences "for many years to come" if it does not stop intervention in Ukraine.
Cameron said rebels were using Russian rocket launchers and Russian tanks, and added: "You can't buy this equipment on eBay, it hasn't come from somewhere else, it's come from Russia and we know that."
Russia denies arming the rebels or sending in Russian forces. Russia's Foreign Ministry said Thursday that Fallon's comments that Russia posed a threat to Baltic countries went beyond "diplomatic ethics," the Telegraph reported. Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich told journalists at a weekly briefing that Russia would find a way to respond to Fallon's comment, the paper said.
In a separate development, Britain's Ministry of Defense said Thursday that Royal Air Force jets escorted Russian bombers away from British airspace after they approached the day before. There has been an increase in Russian probing of British defenses recently.
Under an agreement deal brokered Feb. 12 in Minsk, Belarus, among the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany, the cease-fire was due to start Sunday and the warring sides were to begin withdrawing heavy weapons from the front line Tuesday. Fighting in Debaltseve had continued, despite the cease-fire deal.
Rebel leaders said Wednesday that they have begun the withdrawal of heavy weaponry from the parts of the frontline where the cease-fire holds. Rebel commander Eduard Basurin told Russian Rossiya 1 channel that they were pulling back five self-propelled guns from Olenivka, south of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk on the road to Mariupol.
Contributing: Associated Press
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