Ceasefire begins in southern Ukraine to allow aid to Oleshky

A localized ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia took effect at 3 a.m. Tuesday in the Kherson region. The pause in fighting is designed to clear a path for a humanitarian mission into the town of Oleshky. This aid effort was organized following discussions led by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump.

According to her office, Trump met with U.N. officials who briefed her on the conditions in the occupied town. She then led talks with civilian negotiators from both Russia and Ukraine. Representatives from the militaries of both countries confirmed in separate statements that the local ceasefire had begun as scheduled.

The town of Oleshky, located about 550 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, is in the partially occupied Kherson region. Russian forces captured the area on the first day of their full-scale invasion in 2022. In June 2023, floodwaters from a dam collapse further damaged the town. The Dnipro River currently separates Russian and Ukrainian forces near the site.

U.N. estimates indicate that up to 2,000 people are stranded in Oleshky. They face dwindling supplies of food and medicine because explosive mines and drone attacks prevent them from leaving. Negotiators involved in the mission stated that doctors, medicines, food supplies, and water will be delivered to the town before evacuation corridors are opened.

The local ceasefire is scheduled to last through Saturday, with the possibility of extension. Deep mistrust between the two nations has previously thwarted similar attempts to pause fighting. This aid mission is planned ahead of a new round of U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine expected next month. Those negotiations aim to end the war, which has continued for more than four and a half years.

Missile attacks resumed in other parts of the country shortly after the ceasefire began. Minutes after 3 a.m., multiple ballistic missile explosions shook Kyiv, and air alerts sounded in several regions. Late Monday, Russian ballistic missiles damaged the grounds of a university in the capital, killing one person and injuring 10, city officials reported.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, authorities said attacks late Monday killed two people and injured four. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in an online post that the world sees Russia showing a desire to kill and continue waging war.