Aid Mission to Oleshky Begins Under Short-Term Ceasefire

Up to 2,000 people are currently stranded in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky with limited access to food and medicine.

A localized ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia took effect at 3 a.m. on Tuesday to facilitate a humanitarian mission into the town. The truce is scheduled to last through Saturday, though negotiators indicated it could be extended if conditions allow. This pause in fighting is designed to open evacuation corridors and deliver essential supplies before a new round of U.S.-brokered talks between Moscow and Kyiv begins next month.

U.S. First Lady Melania Trump led the negotiations with civilian representatives from both countries following a briefing by U.N. officials on the conditions in Oleshky. Separate statements from Russian and Ukrainian negotiators and military officials confirmed the start of the local truce. Officials noted that deep mistrust between the two sides has previously complicated similar attempts to pause hostilities.

The aid convoy will transport doctors, medicines, food, and water to the town. Oleshky is located in the Kherson region, approximately 550 kilometers southeast of Kyiv, with the Dnipro River serving as the frontline between Russian and Ukrainian forces. Moscow captured the town in early 2022, and it faced further damage in 2023 when floodwaters from a collapsed dam inundated the area.

Fighting continued elsewhere in Ukraine even as the local truce began. Minutes after 3 a.m. on Tuesday, ballistic missile explosions rocked Kyiv, prompting air alerts across multiple parts of the country. Late Monday, Russian ballistic missiles struck the grounds of a university in the capital, killing one person and injuring 10, according to city officials. In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, attacks on Monday resulted in two deaths and four injuries.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the strikes in an online post, stating that the attacks demonstrate Russia's continued desire to wage war. The current diplomatic effort aims to conclude the conflict after more than four and a half years of fighting.

The town of Oleshky sits directly across the river from Kherson, the regional administrative capital. Russian forces initially seized Kherson in the early stages of the 2022 invasion but withdrew to the opposite bank several months later. The upcoming aid mission marks the first major logistical step toward the broader peace talks expected next month.