Pro-government Ukrainian forces have started to “pull out” of the rebel-held city of Debaltseve according to a commander of one of the pro-Kyiv volunteer battalions.

Semen Semenchenko said on “Facebook”: (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1”; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));Post by Семен Семенченко. that the withdrawal is taking place in a planned and organised manner.

The reports have not been confirmed by the government.

Both sides are telling a different story with rebel sources claiming the government troops surrendered while the Ukrainian army says they were captured after running out of ammunition.

Debaltseve spans a railway line linking two rebel strongholds – Donetsk and Luhansk – and the separatists claim it’s not covered by the ceasefire agreement reached last week in