Russia and Ukraine agree to a local ceasefire around Oleshky
A temporary truce is in effect in Oleshky, a city in Ukraine's Kherson region that has been cut off from supplies since May. The deal was reached with mediation by US First Lady Melania Trump to deliver humanitarian aid and let residents leave.
Russia and Ukraine have halted fire on one section of the front line for the first time in a long while. A temporary truce is in place around Oleshky, a city in Ukraine's Kherson region, so that humanitarian aid can be delivered and residents can leave. The agreement was brokered with the mediation of US First Lady Melania Trump. It matters because, if the truce holds, it could help rebuild trust between the sides and support further peace steps.
Situation in the city
Oleshky lies on the left bank of the Dnipro River and is formally under Russian control, but it is effectively on the front line. Artillery and drone activity have made the area unfit for living, and satellite images show little but ruins. Since May 2026 the city had been completely cut off from supplies. At the start of the truce, by various estimates, between 1,500 and 2,000 people remained there, including 40 children.
Before the humanitarian corridor opened, sappers cleared mines from one stretch to create a safe route. On Friday a convoy with aid set out for the city, and neither side carried out strikes during that period. Kherson, on the opposite bank of the Dnipro, felt the calm: café owner Oleksandra Kosenko said she could walk to work in the morning rather than run between shelters from drones and shelling.
Statements from the sides
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces had mined roads in the occupied part of the Kherson region and expressed hope that food and medicine could be delivered. Russian President Vladimir Putin, in turn, accused the Ukrainian side of mining the approaches to the city. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the case could become a precedent for local ceasefires to evacuate civilians.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said concrete results in Oleshky could open the way to further steps in the peace process. US President Donald Trump said a meeting would be organized soon with Putin and Zelensky.
Evacuation
One overland corridor deep into Russian-held positions has been opened for residents. They will first be taken to Anapa, and from there those wishing to go to Ukraine will be flown to Gomel in Belarus, with onward transfer into Ukraine. Russia's human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said people would be free to go wherever they choose.
