Ukraine-Russia ceasefire begins for aid to Oleshky

Up to 2,000 people remain trapped in the town of Oleshky, Ukraine, with limited food and medicine as a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine took effect at 3 a.m. on Tuesday.

The pause in fighting was arranged to facilitate a humanitarian mission into the Russian-occupied settlement in the Kherson region. U.N. officials reported that residents are unable to leave the area due to explosive mines and continued drone attacks. The local ceasefire is scheduled to last through Saturday, though negotiators noted it could extend if necessary.

U.S. First Lady Melania Trump brokered the agreement after meeting with U.N. officials who briefed her on the conditions in the town. Her office stated that she led discussions with civilian negotiators from both Russia and Ukraine. Separately, the militaries of both nations confirmed in independent statements that the truce had begun.

The aid mission will transport doctors, medicines, food supplies, and water to Oleshky before evacuation corridors open. This effort is planned ahead of a new round of U.S.-brokered talks between the two countries expected next month, which aim to end the conflict after more than four and a half years of fighting.

The start of the ceasefire occurred while missile attacks resumed in the Ukrainian capital. Minutes after 3 a.m., multiple ballistic missile explosions shook Kyiv, and air alerts sounded across several parts of the country. Earlier late Monday, Russian ballistic missiles struck the grounds of a university in Kyiv, killing one person and injuring 10, according to city officials.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, authorities reported that attacks late Monday killed two people and injured four. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted online shortly after the strikes, stating, "It is important that the world sees that Russia is showing nothing but a desire to kill and continue waging war."

Oleshky sits across the Dnipro River from the city of Kherson, the region's administrative capital. The town was captured by Russian forces on the first day of the full-scale invasion in 2022. In June 2023, floodwaters inundated the settlement following a dam collapse. Russian forces currently hold the town, while Ukrainian forces remain on the opposite side of the river.