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LUHANSKE, Ukraine 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.

Heavy fog shrouding sodden fields muffled the sound of artillery, but regular shelling could still be heard Sunday from Luhanske, a town about 9 miles to the northwest. Associated Press journalists were blocked from moving closer by Ukrainian troops, who said it was not safe to travel ahead.

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.

Attention will be focused in the coming days on Debaltseve, where Ukrainian forces have for weeks been fending off severe onslaughts from the rebels. The town is a railway link between the main separatist-held cities of Donetsk and Luhansk.

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 Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin complained 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.

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.

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Ukraine cease-fire largely holding, except around strategic railway hub