Kiev confirms ceasefire takes hold in eastern Ukraine

Kiev, Dec 12 (IANS/EFE) Ukraine confirmed Friday the cessation of hostilities between its troops and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country, as a new truce accord reached earlier this week entered into force.

A spokesman for the Ukraine Security Council, Andriy Lysenko, said the ceasefire was taking hold gradually and mutually in the “anti-terrorism operation zone”.

He noted that there had been no heavy artillery attacks by the separatists in the past 24 hours.

Earlier Thursday, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said a real ceasefire was now in place and that it had resulted in the first night in which no casualties were reported among Ukrainian troops.

For its part, the self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine announced that its breakaway government would withdraw its heavy artillery from the southern part of the region after the truce entered into force.

Under the terms of the pact, the current ceasefire will precede a new round of negotiations mediated by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on the implementation of the Minsk peace agreements that both sides signed at the beginning of September.

A new Russian humanitarian aid convoy entered eastern Ukraine Friday through the border section controlled by pro-Russian separatist militias, the Russian ministry for emergency situations announced Friday.