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A local ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky took effect early Tuesday to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and civilian evacuations, after U.S. First Lady Melania Trump announced she had brokered it.
Both sides said they were observing the Oleshky ceasefire from 3:00 a.m. local time (01:00 a.m. GMT), though it could not immediately verify whether fighting had decreased, as Russian missiles struck Kyiv the same morning.
"In connection with preparations for a humanitarian operation in the area of Oleshky, Kherson Oblast, (Russian forces) have ceased fire in the Kherson sector and introduced a ‘regime of silence’," Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
"The sides are adhering to the agreements that we reached," Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said, adding that Kyiv is "fulfilling its commitments."
Lubinets said the truce is part of a humanitarian mission carried out with Russia’s human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, under Melania Trump’s mediation and coordination.
"It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible," Melania Trump said, calling the situation in Oleshky "dire."
The White House described her as the "Exclusive Intermediary."
Civilian officials from both countries will visit residents to assess their needs, she said. "Residents who wish to evacuate will receive coordinated support and transportation to their preferred destination. I anticipate some will want to go to Russia, and some to Ukraine."
Russian army chief Valery Gerasimov said engineering reconnaissance would be conducted and safe passage provided for a humanitarian convoy.
Neither side has said how long the truce will last or who will monitor it.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov recently said the operation could last at least several days. U.S. network Newsmax said it would accompany observers entering the city Thursday.
Oleshky, on the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, was seized by Russian forces in 2022. Its population has fallen from about 24,000 before the invasion to around 2,000, including up to 50 children, according to Ukrainian and U.S. estimates.
Former residents told Agence France-Presse (AFP) earlier this year that remaining residents were starving. "They’ve forgotten what bread is. You need flour for bread, and there’s not even flour left," said Olga, who was in touch with two families in the city.
Ukraine has accused Russia of blocking residents from leaving, which Moscow denies. Lantratova said most who wished to leave had already done so "entirely of their own volition."
"In the occupied part, the temporarily occupied part, of our Kherson region, the Russians have mined the roads, making the situation dire, extremely dire," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
"Ukraine will do its part. We count on American mediation to work," he noted.
"We are, of course, grateful to the American side, to the first lady, Mrs. Trump, and to Mr. Trump himself, President Trump, for their significant involvement in addressing humanitarian issues," Peskov said.
Peskov said the issue was discussed in a recent phone call between Putin and Trump.
On Tuesday morning, Ukraine's air force issued nearly a dozen warnings of ballistic missiles fired at Kyiv. Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said a strike hit the Southern Bridge and damaged its metro infrastructure.
U.S.-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume in November, as the localized Oleshky ceasefire tests both sides' commitments.
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