Conflicting sides in eastern Ukraine say fresh truce largely holds

The fresh truce that came into effect in eastern Ukraine on midnight Monday is largely observed despite minor violations, officials from the conflicting parties said.

Olexandr Motuzyanyk, a military spokesman, said the Ukrainian army has recorded only 15 attacks on their positions since ceasefire started, a drastic decline from 68 attacks carried out in the previous day.

He added that independence-seeking insurgents have not used heavy weapons in their attacks.

Meanwhile, a senior insurgent commander, Eduard Basurin, said that the Ukrainian army is observing the agreed truce.

The halt of the hostilities, which had raged in the past weeks in eastern Ukraine, raised hopes that the conflicting sides will start the withdrawal of their heavy weapons from the frontlines.

During the weekend, the foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France, who work under the so-called Normandy format, have agreed to use their influence to enforce the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine starting from Feb. 20.

The conflict between government troops and rebels in eastern Ukraine has been underway since April 2014, claiming some 10,000 lives.

More than 30 previous rounds of truce efforts have failed, with the two sides accusing each other of ceasefire violations. Endi