Minor violations reported in new Ukraine truce

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

Vasyl Labay, a Ukrainian government military spokesman, said independence-seeking insurgents have carried out a single attack against government forces at about midday local time (10 a.m. GMT), but it posed no threat to Ukrainian soldiers, Xinhua reported.

Meanwhile, the rebel operational command said the Ukrainian Army had violated the cease-fire "several times," without using heavy weapons.

There were no reports on the casualties in the conflict since the truce started.

The conflict in eastern Ukraine has been underway since April 2014, claiming the lives of more than 10,000 people, including civilians and combatants on both sides.

On Wednesday, the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine reached an agreement on a fresh round of truce starting from December 23 for civilians to celebrate winter holidays.

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

--IANS

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