First day with no troops killed under Ukraine truce

  • People walk past a board showing currency exchange rates in central Kyiv February 9, 2015. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

  • A member of the Ukrainian armed forces sits on an armoured personnel carrier near Artemivsk, eastern Ukraine, February 23, 2015. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich

By Natalia Zinets and Anton Zverev

KYIV/MAKIYVSK, Ukraine (Reuters) – A long-awaited truce appeared to be taking hold at last in east Ukraine on Wednesday as pro-Russian rebels pulled artillery from the front, but the news did nothing to halt a currency collapse that forced the central bank to ban most trading.