You're reading: Voice of America: Civilian casualties drop in eastern Ukraine as cease-fire holds

Voice of America: Civilian casualties drop in eastern Ukraine as cease-fire holds

Published Sept. 20, 2020. Updated Sept. 20 at 4:15 am

Serhii Zhuravel, father of Ukrainian marine Yaroslav Zhuravel, who was killed in action in the Donbas, holds his son's portrait during a rally against the terms of yet another ceasefire in the Donbas at the Presidential Administration in Kyiv on July 27, 2020. Russia violated the cease-fire within minutes in its ongoing war against Ukraine.

Photo by Volodymyr Petrov

U.N. officials say a cease-fire that took effect in July in eastern Ukraine appears to be holding and has resulted in a significant drop in civilian casualties. The cease-fire between the Ukrainian government and Russian-backed separatists is giving rise to hope that the period of relative calm, the longest since the conflict began in April 2014, might result in a permanent peace.