Limited truce starts in Ukraine to allow aid, evacuation

A limited ceasefire has officially commenced in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky, offering a temporary respite to trapped residents surviving without electricity, water, or food.

Both Ukrainian officials and the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that forces on the ground are respecting the ceasefire. According to the White House, US First Lady Melania Trump brokered the truce, which aims to facilitate humanitarian aid deliveries and enable a civilian evacuation scheduled for Friday.

Situated along the front line within the Kherson region, Oleshky remains trapped between two forces, bounded on one side by the Dnipro River - which divides it from Ukrainian-controlled positions - and encircled on the other by Russian forces. Severe hunger has forced numerous residents to cook garden weeds for survival, with locals informing the BBC of their desperate desire to escape.

However, skepticism about the ceasefire’s durability persists among the population, with one local resident remarking, “I don’t believe in Russia’s humanity.”

Kyiv estimates that up to 6,000 civilians, including 200 children, remain trapped in Oleshky and its surrounding areas, with around 1,700 people still residing within the city itself. Prior to the war, Oleshky housed 24,000 residents, but Russian forces seized the city during the initial days of their full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Conditions inside the city have deteriorated drastically; essential supplies cannot easily enter, while fleeing poses extreme danger due to mined escape routes and constant drone attacks. All local shops remain closed, and the city has lacked gas, water, and electricity for three years.

Earlier, Pope Leo XIV appealed directly to Russian President Vladimir Putin to permit food and medical aid into Oleshky alongside a safe civilian evacuation, while simultaneously urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to cooperate with Moscow regarding a ceasefire.

The ongoing truce aims to allow aid supplies into the city and enable response teams to clear landmines from access roads before Friday’s planned evacuation.

The dangers of landmines remain acute. One local woman hospitalized after undergoing two surgeries told the BBC that she had stepped on a landmine, expressing concern about her ability to join the evacuation by saying, “I don’t know how long I will have to spend there.”

Last month, residents disclosed to the BBC that only one hospital remains partially operational in the area, functioning a few days a week primarily to execute critical amputations.

Maintaining contact with inhabitants in Oleshky remains difficult due to patchy communications and residents’ fear of Russian reprisals, making independent verification of the ceasefire implementation challenging.

Moreover, numerous operational details regarding the evacuation remain uncertain, including registration procedures and locations. Residents have raised questions about whether they can bring pets and expressed anxiety over their long-term future if they abandon their homes.

Underlining the urgency of the situation on Tuesday, Kyrylo Budanov, head of Zelensky’s office, said, “It is critically important that this mission to rescue our people proceeds successfully and safely.”

Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that military units from the army’s Dnepr group conducted “engineering reconnaissance” to clear main access roads leading into the village of “explosive and booby-trap devices.”

Despite growing optimism regarding the evacuation, residents harbor intense fears that Russia may block them from returning to Ukraine or subject their mobile phones and internet activity to inspection for signs of Ukrainian support, which could result in detention and torture.

A source in communication with relatives in Oleshky voiced concerns that fighting could erupt during the evacuation process and that Ukraine would be unfairly blamed for failing to uphold the ceasefire.

Last month, the Kremlin acknowledged that Oleshky faced “a critical situation” involving “problems with supplies of food and medicine,” while claiming that “Russia’s military was working to resolve them” and shifting blame onto Kyiv.

Addressing the worsening crisis, the White House confirmed last week that US First Lady Melania Trump secured the ceasefire agreement.

On Telegram, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its forces ceased firing toward the Ukrainian city of Kherson - located across the river from Oleshky - at 04:00 Moscow time (03:00 in Ukraine; 01:00 GMT) to prepare for the humanitarian mission.

Davyd Arakhamia, a Ukrainian MP who leads Zelensky’s party in parliament, confirmed that the truce will remain in effect until 23:59 local time on 1 November.

Ukrainian officials added that Parliament’s Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets traveled directly to the region to oversee the coordination of the operation. Writing on social media, Lubinets noted, “This is part of a humanitarian mission being carried out with the mediation and co-ordination of US First Lady Melania Trump, in co-operation with Yana Lantratova, Russia’s Commissioner for Human Rights.”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Military General Staff announced that forces are observing operational silence for humanitarian purposes, cautioning the public against believing unverified reports or spreading rumors regarding “the routes, time and place of the movement of people and humanitarian convoys.”

Zelensky cautioned that civilian routes demined by Russia will ensure that departing residents “head towards Russia and stay there.” However, he noted that some residents would reach Ukrainian-controlled territory “one way or another,” expressing hope that trapped civilians can safely reach their intended destinations and evacuate into Ukraine.

Highlighting the peril of escaping, a former resident named Serhii, who fled Oleshky around three weeks ago, described walking 24 kilometers (15 miles) across active minefields to reach safety.

Recounting his journey, Serhii said, “In some places you have to keep two metres away. In others you have to walk quietly... you can’t even talk. We passed within a metre of mines like that, hoping they wouldn’t go off.”

Serhii, who withheld his surname, eventually re-entered Ukraine by traveling through Russia and Belarus, but advocated for establishing an evacuation path across the Dnipro River to avoid Russian-occupied territory, remarking, “you simply cannot trust the Russian Federation.”

However, destroyed bridges and heavily mined riverbanks make crossing the Dnipro River extremely hazardous.

Last week, the White House noted that “non-military, civilian leaders from both countries would work together to visit Oleshky residents in their homes and determine the level of assistance they require.”

Although First Lady Melania Trump maintains a lower public profile than previous First Ladies, making only occasional appearances at White House events, she has taken an active role in addressing humanitarian fallout from the Russia-Ukraine war. In August 2025, she authored a personal letter to Putin, saying it was “time to protect children and future generations worldwide.”

While the truce holds in Oleshky, military strikes continue in other regions. On Monday evening, Russian attacks targeted the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, striking a university and a bridge, killing one person and injuring 14 others.

A Ukrainian drone strike on the Russian city of Bryansk killed one person and injured six others.

Source: BBC (adapted)