Violations alleged as Ukraine truce comes into force
Government forces and pro-Russia separatists accuse each other of violating a ceasefire, only hours after it began.
The Ukrainian government and pro-Russia rebels have exchanged accusations of fresh attacks only hours into the ceasefire agreed by them, officials from the warring sides have said.
The ceasefire is seen as a first step in a peace plan aimed at ending 10 months of conflict in eastern Ukraine.
Within two hours into the ceasefire, which came into effect on Saturday at midnight local time or 2200 GMT, Kiev reported attacks by pro-Russian separatists in the Luhansk area.
“Pro-Russian militants used artillery, mortars and grenade launchers to attack the Ukrainian positions … near Zolote, Sanzharivka, Popasna, Chornukhine by 2am,” saidtweets by Ukrainian army early on Sunday.
A pro-Kiev official said that two civilians were killed by rockets fired by rebels shortly after the start of the ceasefire, but most of the frontline had fallen silent.
An elderly man and woman died after Grad missile fire hit the town of Popasna in the Lugansk region about 20 minutes after the truce came into force, local governor Gennadiy Moskal said.
The firing reportedly came from an area that Kiev says is under the command of a renegade group of Cossack fighters who insist they will not obey the ceasefire.
Meanwhile, rebels accused the Ukrainians of deploying artillery shortly after midnight, the AP said.
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