Oren Dorell

USA TODAY

Ukraine's president said Friday that the fragile cease-fire between government forces and Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine held for the first full day since fighting began there in the spring.

"This is the first night when I don't have neither lost nor wounded Ukrainian soldiers, when we don't have any lost or wounded civilians," Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a speech in Sydney, Australia, where he's wrapping up a three-day trip. A continued cessation of violence would be "a great step for peace and stability in Ukraine," he said.

The break in the fighting comes as Ukrainian media and military report on a leadership shakeup in separatist-held areas, where fighting between militants and Ukrainian forces had persisted despite a September cease-fire agreement.

Ukrainian authorities have said a complete end to fighting is a prerequisite to pulling out heavy weapons and implementing the 12-point peace plan that marked the end of major combat operations in September but failed to stop smaller skirmishes.

Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's National Security Defense Council, told reporters Wednesday that "once there is a full day without a single shot," the army would consider pulling heavy weapons 20 miles away from the cease-fire line.

In August, Ukraine suffered devastating losses of 70% of its armor in what the U.S., NATO and Ukraine say was a Russian military counter offensive against a Ukrainian military poised to retake the separatist-held areas of Donetsk and Luhansk in the nation's east.

Russia denied a role in the fighting, but Western governments and reporters provided photos and other evidence that Russian units participated. The USA and European Union have imposed sanctions on the Russian economy as a result of that country's involvement.

In the past few weeks, Russian forces have removed several charismatic separatist leaders who were deemed insubordinate, Col. Sergii Kryvonos, Ukraine's chief of special operations, told USA TODAY during a visit to Washington this week.

" Russians started this cleansing operation to annihilate less loyal rebel groups," Kryvonos said. The main goal is to have the rebel groups in Donetsk and Luhansk under Moscow's control, he said.





In the meantime, some separatist groups have gone rogue stealing coal and fighting with their Russian backers in the separatist areas, Col. Oleksiy Nozdrachov, Ukraine's chief of military and civilian cooperation in the Donbass region, said in Washington this week.

Tighter Russian control could aid in holding the cease-fire. Earlier this week, Russian General Valeriy Gerasimov said the Ukrainian government invited his forces into Donetsk to "find compromise solutions to de-escalate tension and withdraw troops from lines of contact," according to German newspaper Deutche Welle.

Still, Kryvonos is doubtful that even a truce that holds all winter will mean an end to the conflict. Since August, the Russians have sent nine large so-called humanitarian convoys to the separatist-held areas, which they've used to resupply forces there with equipment and ammunition, he said.

"They've increased their military capabilities," he said. "We think they'll use the winter time for preparation for a possible spring offensive."

Contributing: The Associated Press