Shelling and mortar fire has thundered around a flashpoint east Ukraine town despite a new, shaky ceasefire largely observed along the rest of the frontline separating Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists.
Sporadic bombardments targeting the key railway hub of Debaltseve - where thousands of Ukrainian soldiers are mostly surrounded by the rebels - were audible from kilometres away, but they were far less intense than before the truce came into effect at 0900 AEDT on Saturday.
Ukraine's military said that across the entire conflict zone, its soldiers' positions had come under fire from the rebels 60 times on Sunday. Debaltseve, it said, was "the main hotspot".
The pro-Russian insurgents "shot using every kind of weapon, including Grad (multiple) rockets", military spokesman Anatoliy Stelmakh said.
His assertion was backed up by observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), who are mandated to monitor the truce.
The separatists said the ceasefire was largely holding, but accused the other side of occasional breaches.
OSCE representatives added that rebels have blocked their access to Debaltseve, which they will try again to reach on Monday.
The truce is meant to be the first step of a peace plan aimed at ending 10 months of conflict that have claimed more than 5,480 lives.
The next phase is scheduled to see both sides pull their heavy weaponry back from the frontline within 48 hours of the ceasefire coming into effect. Theoretically, that would be from 0900 AEDT Monday if the truce is deemed to be fully in force.
A prisoner exchange would then be made, and Kiev is afterwards meant to start retaking control from the rebels over its 400-kilometre border with Russia, following local elections in the east by the end of the year and negotiations over greater autonomy for separatist-held territories.
But there is little trust on all sides, with a high degree of scepticism after the collapse of a similar ceasefire agreed in September.
In Paris, French President Francois Hollande declared that observance of the ceasefire was "generally satisfactory" despite some "local incidents".
Hollande - who along with German Chancellor Angela Merkel had helped mediate the ceasefire agreed on Thursday - was speaking after a four-way telephone conversation with Merkel and the leaders of Ukraine and Russia.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko emphasised in the call that the ceasefire should be implemented all along the frontline, "including the area of Debaltseve", according to a statement from his office.
Poroshenko has warned the truce was "threatened" by the separatist action in Debaltseve, seen as the weak link in the ceasefire, while rebels have warned any attempt to move the 5,000 government troops they claim to have cornered there would be countered.
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