Ukrainian army and rebel troops pull back to create buffer zone

In eastern Ukraine, government troops and pro-Russian rebels have begun withdrawing from frontline positions, according to Ukranian officials.

It comes after Ukraine, Russia, and the rebels signed an agreement in the Belurussian capital Minsk last week to create a 30 kilometre buffer zone and pull back heavy artillery.

A ceasefire on September 5 had been regularly broken with Ukrainian troops and civilians being killed.

Neither side has yet completed their withdrawal.

President Petro Poroshenko has pleaded with the Ukrainian public to give the peace deal time to work saying that military power alone wouldn’t solve the conflict.