The Ukraine Live Blog for October 6 is now up and running. Check in here for all the latest news from Ukraine.
This ends our live blogging for October 5. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.
Igor Girkin, the former military commander of the so-called “DPR,” confirmed that some Russians and Ukrainians who fought in Donbas are already in Syria. In an interview for Russian Govorit Moskva radio station, Girkin claimed that a Russian brigade or battalion may be formed within the Syrian governmental forces.
“I probably wouldn’t say that they are volunteers. Maybe because private military companies formed in Donetsk and Luhansk sent [people] to Syria. Meaning, roughly speaking, [they are] mercenaries,” he said.
Girkin believes that fighters are leaving for Syria due to financial benefits. At the same time, he rejected the idea of himself going to Syria. He says he finds it “uninteresting.”
“I think that now the war in Syria is a distraction from the desperate situation [in the] 'Russian republics' in the southeast of Ukraine. I think that volunteers are needed there. If I had an opportunity to form something and return to Donbas, I would do it for free,” he said.
Lighter weaponry being withdrawn from front line:
Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists have started withdrawing small-caliber weapons from the front line.
Military spokesman Ruslan Tkachuk said the "synchronized withdrawal from the front line" began on October 5 in the eastern Luhansk region, involving tanks, antitank cannons, and mortars.
The rebels in Luhansk confirmed that the weapons were being withdrawn.
Later, the separatist forces in the Donetsk region are also scheduled to withdraw weapons from the front line.
Arms with a caliber of less than 100 millimeters are to be pulled back a distance of 15 kilometers within 41 days.
A spokesman for international monitors in the area, Michael Bociurkiw of the OSCE, told the BBC there was "encouraging" movement of heavy weapons.
The pullback is part of the cease-fire agreement signed in Minsk in February.
The conflict in eastern Ukraine between separatists and government forces has left more than 7,900 dead since April 2014. (BBC, TASS, Interfax)