Brief truce reached to evacuate civilians in southeastern Ukraine

A temporary humanitarian cease-fire was reached Friday between the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) and Kiev to evacuate residents in the southeastern Ukrainian town of Debaltseve.

The truce was announced at 0600 GMT and will expire at 1500 GMT, Eduard Basurin from the "Defense Ministry" of the DPR told reporters.

"A convoy of buses carrying civilians has left the town," he said.

Zoryan Shkiryak, advisor of Ukraine's interior minister, also confirmed the truce in Debaltseve.

"Residents will be evacuated to DPR-controlled areas which are far from the combat zone," DPR Ombudsman Darya Morozova was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency. Twenty buses would be provided to evacuate all people who are willing to leave the town, she said.

According to earlier reports, civilians of Debaltseve are free to choose where they want to go -- the town of Artemivsk which is under control of the Ukrainian army, or Donetsk which is controlled by the militia forces.

Basurin said this was the first time Kiev had agreed with the militia's proposal to allow civilians to leave the war-torn town of Debaltseve.

Local residents have plunged into a dreadful plight without basic living services since conflicts intensified earlier in fighting areas around Debaltseve, which is a key position for the militia trying to encircle Ukrainian troops there. Endi