UKRAINE’S government and pro-Russia rebels have said that a ceasefire that began at midnight local time (22:00 GMT) is holding but that there have been some violations.
 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,” said tweets by Ukrainian army early 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.

  Anxiety remains high that unrest could be sparked anew by rival claims to Debaltseve, a strategic railway hub now controlled by the government.

  On Saturday, intense fighting persisted around Debaltseve, in the eastern part of Ukraine, which has been besieged by separatist forces. 

  Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford, reporting from Donetsk, said at least seven Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 23 others wounded in Saturday’s violence.

  Under the terms of the ceasefire deal, approved on Thursday during talks between the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France in Minsk, Belarus, the rival sides have two days from the start of the truce to start pulling back heavy weapons from the front line.

  The peace plan is seen as the best hope of ending the violence that has claimed at least 5,480 lives since April, but scepticism remains high after the collapse of a similar previous deal.

  Minutes before the ceasefire, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko gave a speech where he ordered his military forces to abide by the agreement.

  However, earlier, he expressed pessimism about the prospects for the ceasefire deal.“Unfortunately after the Minsk agreement, Russia’s offensive has significantly increased. We still think that the agreement is in great danger,” Poroshenko said during a meeting with Viktor Orban, Hungary’s prime minister.

  Military spokesman, Vladyslav Selezynov, said the Ukrainian armed forces immediately fulfilled Poroshenko’s order and the big guns fell silent in Donetsk and some other parts of the separatist-leaning east.

  Hours before the ceasefire took effect, U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to the leaders of Ukraine and Germany, during which he stressed the need for all sides to halt the violence.