REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, DONETSK -- Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian insurgents said Tuesday they had begun withdrawing tanks and smaller weapons from the frontline splitting the devastated Donetsk region in the ex-Soviet state's eastern war zone.

The pullback follows similar arms movements in the smaller separatist Lugansk province and falls in line with the terms of a new truce agreement struck by the warring sides on September 1.

The de-escalation -- if it holds -- would mark an important step in finally halting an 18-month conflict that has killed more than 8,000 people and plunged Russia's relations with the United States and Europe to a post-Cold War low.

It would also provide an important boost to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande's repeated efforts to find a solution to Europe's deadliest conflict since the 1990s Balkans wars.