KIEV, June 20, /ITAR-TASS/. A unilateral ceasefire announced by Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko earlier on Friday came into force in Eastern Ukraine at 23:00 Moscow time, Poroshenko’s press service reports.

The ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine will last from 22:00 (23:00 Moscow time) on June 20 until 10:00 (11:00 Moscow time) on June 27.

However, “the military will be given the right to open return fire if Ukrainian army units or peaceful civilians are attacked,” Poroshenko said in his decree.

Poroshenko announced unilateral ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine during a visit to Svyatogorsk, located 15 kilometers to the north of Slavyansk in the Donetsk region, earlier on Friday. He ordered all Ukrainian army units fighting in the country’s southeast and the border guards to cease fire until June 27.

Poroshenko said that the ceasefire was designed to enable the Kiev authorities’ foes to lay down arms. He warned that those who would refuse to do that would be destroyed, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry wrote on its website.

The Ukrainian president warned that during the ceasefire the Ukrainian troopers would be given the right to return fire if Ukrainian army units or civilians were attacked.

Ukraine’s acting president, Alexander Turchinov, announced the start of an army operation in Eastern Ukraine on April 7, 2014.