A cease-fire held Thursday in parts of Syria's Homs province, observers said, giving civilians a chance to start putting their lives back together.
The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported no violations, while reporters on the ground said fruit and vegetable markets reopened and children were back on the streets in the city of Homs.
The quiet will also give humanitarian workers the chance to bring in badly needed aid.
"It's important that people can live again," an opposition activist told The Associated Press.
Russian defense officials and representatives of the Syrian rebels worked out the details of the cease-fire in northern Homs last week in Cairo.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the truce would affect an area that has a population of more than 147,000 people.
This is the third of four truces reached during negotiations in Kazakhstan in which Russia, Iran and Turkey agreed to establish what they called "de-escalation" zones in some of the most violent areas of Syria.
Cease-fires are also in effect in parts of southern Syria and an area outside Damascus. The fourth area, in Idlib province, has yet to be established.
Like other cease-fire deals during the Syrian conflict, this one does not cover Islamic State fighters or those from al-Qaida-linked groups.
