Guns fall almost silent in eastern Ukraine as ceasefire takes effect

The Ukrainian army and independence-seeking insurgents confirmed Thursday that guns fell almost silent across the entire frontline in eastern Ukraine as a comprehensive ceasefire took effect at midnight.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said that as of 9:00 a.m. local time (0600 GMT), the government forces had recorded no truce violations in the conflict area.

"This morning, I was pleasantly surprised that since midnight, there has been no single case of shelling. Both sides are observing the truce regime," Poltorak told reporters in Kiev.

He voiced the hope that the ceasefire, reached last week in the Belarusian capital of Minsk during a meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group on the Ukraine crisis, will continue.

Meanwhile, Eduard Basurin, a senior insurgent commander in the Donetsk region, has also confirmed that both conflicting parties are complying with the truce regime.

"There were no recorded ceasefire violations since midnight," Basurin was quoted as saying by the insurgent-run DAN news agency.

Separately, the self-styled defense ministry of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic said the insurgent positions in the Lugansk region were attacked once from an automatic grenade launcher after midnight.

On Aug. 26, the Contact Group for settling the situation in eastern Ukraine agreed on the necessity of establishing an absolute ceasefire in the conflict zone starting Sept. 1, so as to allow children to quietly begin the school year.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, solely in the government-controlled territory of Donbas, about 150,000 children went to schools and kindergartens this year.

The truce is the latest attempt to end the conflict in Ukraine's eastern regions that has killed some 9,500 people, including at least 68 children, since it started in mid-April 2014. Endi