MELBOURNE
The last 24 hours in Ukraine have passed without a death or injury for the first time in seven months, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.
Poroshenko during his official visit in Australia said on Friday: "Today is the first time in seven months that we have spent such 24 hours – the first night when a Ukrainian soldier did not get killed or injured."
Poroshenko said that no civilians were killed or wounded as well, but it was too early to declare a success in ongoing attempts to agree a cease-fire.
The lull came four days after Ukrainian government and pro-Russian separatists began "a day of silence" in an attempt to revive a previous cease-fire signed on Sept. 5 in Belarus' capital Minsk, but which has been repeatedly violated.
At least 3,600 people were killed and 8,700 wounded between mid-April and Oct. 6 in the conflict between the Ukrainian government and the rebels, the UN Human Rights Office said in a report last month.
www.aa.com.tr/en
