Ukraine's apocalypse

Heavily shelled tower blocks, abandoned hotels and airplane noses that look to have dropped from the sky are among the sights depicting the destruction in Donetsk, which in parts equals that seen after the Second World War in cities such as Stalingrad and Dresden.

It comes as heavy weaponry was today towed away from the front line at the village of Paraskoviyvka, north of the government stronghold of Artemivsk, in a move that signified a France and Germany-brokered ceasefire may be beginning to take hold 11 days after it was agreed.

The move to withdrawn heavy weaponry was Kiev's most direct step to acknowledge that the ceasefire was finally holding, a week after suffering one of the worst defeats of the war at the hands of rebels who initially ignored the ceasefire to launch a major advance.

The pro-Russian rebels, who committed to the truce after their successful offensive, have been pulling back heavy weapons for two days, but Kiev had until now held back from implementing the withdrawal, arguing that fighting had not yet ceased.

However, the army today reported no combat fatalities at the front for a second straight day - the first time no troops have been killed since long before the French and German-brokered truce was meant to take effect.

The withdrawal of artillery is 'point two' of the peace agreement reached in the Belarus capital Minsk, so it amounts to an acknowledgement that 'point one' - the ceasefire itself - is being observed.

'Today Ukraine has begun the withdrawal of 100 millimetre guns from the line of confrontation,' the military said in a statement, saying the step would be monitored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

It said it reserved the right to alter the schedule of withdrawal 'in the event of any attempted offensive'.

(dailymail.co.uk)