The cease-fire between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists was largely being observed on its first day despite sporadic exchanges of fire, the head of an international monitoring mission said Sunday. Ertugrul Apakan, the chief monitor of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, said in a news conference in Kiev that the cease-fire was observed throughout east Ukraine overnight and during the first half of Sunday, with the exception of the area around the city of Debaltseve, where fighting had been heaviest in recent days. The separatists claim that the area should be under their control under the cease-fire agreement, and that thousands of government forces were surrounded there. Kiev officials deny the claim of […]