Ukraine truce holding, except in eastern railway hub

A cease-fire that went into effect Sunday in eastern Ukraine appeared largely to be holding, officials said — except for around the strategic railway hub of Debaltseve.

"Of course we can open fire [on Debaltseve]. It is our territory," senior rebel commander Eduard Basurin told Reuters. "The territory is internal: ours. And internal is internal. But along the line of confrontation there is no shooting."

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), responsible for monitoring the cease-fire, said rebels had denied its observers access to Debaltseve. It said firing continued in the town, one of a few exceptions to a truce that was otherwise largely being observed.

Both sides blamed what firing there was on the enemy. But Debaltseve has been the focus of fighting for weeks, and it will be hard to speak of a truce if Ukrainian troops remain trapped there under fire, or if the rebels press on with their advance.

Heavy fog shrouding sodden fields muffled the sound of artillery, but regular shelling could still be heard Sunday from Luhanske, a town about 49 miles to the northeast of Debaltseve. Associated Press journalists were blocked from traveling to Luhanske by Ukrainian troops, who said it was not safe to travel ahead.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian army general staff, Vladislav Seleznyov, said during a morning briefing that shelling was noted 10 times, with all but one incident occurring in the Debaltseve area. Another military spokesman, Andriy Lysenko, said Sunday that nine Ukrainian troops had died over the previous day's unrest.

The rebels have in turn accused the Ukrainians of deploying artillery in the Debaltseve area shortly after midnight. Also, they argue that since they have fully encircled Debaltseve, the territory should be deemed as being theirs.

But Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, as he issued the cease-fire order at one minute after midnight Kiev time Sunday, said that the road to the town remained open and that Ukrainian troops there had been resupplied with ammunition.

The cease-fire has kindled slender hopes of reprieve from the conflict between the government troops and Russian-backed separatists that has claimed more than 5,300 lives since it began in April.

This latest cessation of hostilities was agreed after a marathon session of diplomacy last week that brought together the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France for talks in the capital of Belarus, Minsk.

Under the deal hammered out at those negotiations, the progress of the cease-fire is to be monitored by observers from the OSCE. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin complained on Sunday that rebels had barred OSCE monitors from reaching Debaltseve to report on developments there.

"It quite clearly shows who is in breach of the Minsk agreement," Klimkin said.

The press office for government military operations in the east said in a statement that Sunday was characterized by a relative degree of calm.

"There has unfortunately not been a total cessation of fire, however," the statement said.

Wire services