Melania-Brokered Ceasefire Takes Effect in Russian-Occupied Oleshky

A temporary ceasefire coordinated in part by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump began Tuesday in Russian-occupied Oleshky, opening a route toward aid deliveries and evacuations for civilians facing starvation.

Russia and Ukraine both said they were observing the agreement, which runs until November 1. The pause covers the frontline city in southern Ukraine and does not extend to fighting elsewhere.

The immediate task is to clear mines from access roads before humanitarian supplies and evacuation buses can enter. That work could take several days, with arrivals expected later this week.

Aid and Evacuations

Ukrainian officials estimate that about 2,000 civilians remain in Oleshky. Russian authorities put the number at only a few hundred.

Many residents are elderly or ill, making it difficult to escape on foot.

Some have described subsisting on a daily cup of rice or buckwheat, occasionally supplemented with vegetables or wild plants.

Food deliveries by volunteers stopped after May, when vehicles began hitting mines along the approaches to the city, according to residents.

Ukrainian authorities have since used drones to send in some supplies.

The agreement followed months of Ukrainian appeals for a safe exit route. Pope Leo XIV also joined efforts to secure relief.

“The main thing is to free these people from the blockade so they can live,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday, after Trump announced the agreement.

Residents Prepare to Leave

Ksenia Arkhipova, a former resident who helps coordinate assistance, said she had approximately 500 people on her evacuation list.

Almost all hoped to reach Ukrainian-controlled territory eventually.

Residents have been instructed to assemble outside the main hospital at 10 a.m. Friday, she said.

Some families, however, remain uncertain about the evacuation arrangements and their destinations.

Arkhipova has urged people to seize the opportunity before winter. Residents endured freezing conditions in unheated homes last winter, while snow concealed mines along potential escape routes.

“There is so much hope surrounding this humanitarian mission,” said Olena Solovyova, whose father is registered to leave. “We just hope everything will work out and nothing will go wrong.”

Russian forces captured Oleshky during the opening days of the February 2022 invasion.

It sits across the Dnipro River from Ukrainian-held Kherson and has suffered extensive destruction from fighting, alongside flooding after the Kakhovka dam’s destruction in 2023.

Basic services have largely collapsed, with severe shortages of water, medicine and food. Both sides blame the other for the humanitarian crisis.

Fighting Continues Elsewhere

The local agreement coincided with another Russian missile attack on Kyiv, where officials reported at least one death and damage to a university campus and the Southern Bridge.

Zelensky said Russian missiles also hit energy installations, infrastructure, and logistics facilities in 10 other regions. Moscow said its strikes targeted facilities supporting Ukraine’s military.

The Oleshky pause comes amid continuing U.S. mediation efforts. Zelensky said last week that three-way talks would resume in Abu Dhabi in early November.