Pro-Russian rebels withdrawing artillery from Donetsk

Pro-Russian separatists have started pulling back artillery from positions in the southern part of their Donetsk separatist region in east Ukraine, Russian news agency Interfax quoted a separatist leader as saying on Thursday.

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"The militia have started pulling back artillery units with a calibre greater than 100 millimetres in the south of the republic," said Denis Pushilin, vice speaker of the separatists' "people's council", a leadership body.