KYIV / WASHINGTON: Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a local ceasefire in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, in southern Ukraine, to allow humanitarian aid in and civilians out. Both governments confirmed the truce, which takes effect Tuesday, after the United States announced that First Lady Melania Trump had brokered it. Ukraine’s General Staff said the pause would begin at 3 a.m. Kyiv time on Oct. 27.
Oleshky lies on the Russian-held east bank of the Dnipro River, opposite Kherson, and had about 24,000 residents before the full-scale invasion. The town was taken by Russian forces at the start of the war in February 2022 and has since been devastated by shelling. It has been effectively cut off from regular food supplies since late May 2026. Mrs. Trump described the remaining population as mostly elderly residents with limited electricity, living amid mined roads and regular attacks, and in urgent need of food, medicine and clean water. Ukraine says Russia is holding about 2,000 people there.
The operation is planned in stages: the ceasefire takes hold first, then mines are cleared and aid is delivered, and finally civilians who wish to leave are evacuated. Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Russian forces would suspend fire in the direction of Kherson, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the evacuation would take at least several days. Mrs. Trump said she expects some residents to choose to go to Russia and others to Ukraine.
The White House said Mrs. Trump and her representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to define the terms, using a communication channel built during earlier efforts to reunite children separated by the war. Moscow welcomed her role, with Mr. Peskov saying she had made a significant contribution to coordinating the operation.
The truce is limited in scope and does not signal a wider end to the fighting, which is now in its fifth year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States have agreed to technical-level meetings in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. For civilians who have endured months of deprivation, the international community hopes the pause will bring at least some relief.