Update | Ukraine truce mainly holding after shaky start
Fighting dropped across eastern Ukraine, but there was still sporadic shooting after the ceasefire started, the first step in a fragile peace plan
A ceasefire that went into effect yesterday in eastern Ukraine appeared to be largely holding last night, except for around the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve.
Heavy fog shrouding sodden fields muffled the sound of artillery, but regular shelling could still be heard from Luhansk, a town 15km to the northwest.
The ceasefire has kindled slender hopes of reprieve from the conflict between government troops and Russian-backed separatists, which has claimed more than 5,300 lives since it began in April.
International attention will be focused in the coming days on Debaltseve, where Ukrainian forces have for weeks faced severe onslaughts from the rebels. The town is a railway link between the main separatist-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian army general staff, Vladislav Seleznyov, said the ceasefire had largely been upheld after it went into effect at midnight.
Shelling was noted 10 times, he said, with all but one incident occurring in the Debaltseve area.