KYIV. A ceasefire that began early Tuesday to get food and medicine into the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky has been extended across Ukraine’s wider Kherson region, officials on both sides say, with no breaches reported in its first hours.
Several thousand Oleshky residents are trapped without food, water or electricity, hemmed in by the Dnipro River on one side and Russian forces on the other. Aid deliveries come first, with evacuations planned for Friday for anyone who wants to leave. An estimated 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in the city.
US First Lady Melania Trump, who helped broker the truce with Pope Leo XIV, said the zone had expanded beyond Oleshky to allow safe passage for humanitarian convoys. Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, deputy head of the Kherson regional administration, said Russian shelling had stopped in Ukrainian-held Kherson city and across the wider region.
David Arakhamia, a senior figure in President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party, said the truce runs until 22:59 Ukrainian time on Sunday, November 1, and called it the largest de-escalation since 2022. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said events were proceeding “according to plan”.
Russia’s defence ministry said its units were clearing mines from the main access roads, but Zelensky has warned that routes demined by Russia could steer evacuees into Russia, and with the Dnipro bridges destroyed and the riverbank reportedly mined, crossing into Ukrainian-held territory appears impossible for now.
— LRTVS News Desk
Leave a Reply