Kiev says ready to return heavy weapons to frontline

The Ukrainian army stands ready to return its heavy weapons to the frontline in eastern regions if pro-independence rebels launch an offensive, a government military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said here Tuesday.

"Our artillerymen are always on the alert, they are ready for a defensive fire," Lysenko told reporters during a media briefing.

The Ukrainian side has pulled all of its heavy weapons away from the contact line with rebels under the Minsk ceasefire agreement, the spokesman said, accusing insurgent forces of continuing to use artillery in their attacks.

In the past 24 hours, two Ukrainian servicemen were killed and five others wounded in the insurgent attacks, Lysenko added.

On June 3, the conflicting sides exchanged artillery rounds using heavy weapons, which are banned under the Minsk peace agreement, during a fighting near the frontline town of Mariynka.

Since then, the two sides have been accusing each other of preparing for an offensive and violating the four-month-old ceasefire reached in Minsk to end the conflict that claimed the lives of more than 6,400 people. Endite