Humanitarian aid is set to arrive in Oleshky, Ukraine, on Friday as a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine continues for a third day KHERSON, Ukraine -- Humanitarian aid is poised to roll into the stricken city of Oleshky on Friday, a Ukrainian official said, as a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine stretched into a third day and military units cleared away landmines. Moscow and Kyiv have observed the truce in and around the devastated southern Ukrainian city since Tuesday, despite remaining locked in war since Russia’s all-out invasion of its neighbor more than 4 ½ years ago. Previous efforts to secure ceasefires either never worked out or the truces quickly fell apart.
But elsewhere, a jet-powered Russian drone hit two trains stopped at a station in central Ukraine, killing at least 13 people and injuring 10 others, officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described it in a post on X as a “horrific attack” that struck passenger trains in Dnipro. Also, Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight in one of the largest drone attacks launched by Kyiv.
Around half of the drones were heading to the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The planned six-day ceasefire around Russian-occupied Oleshky has also brought a rare and welcome stillness for civilians in the nearby city of Kherson, which is held by Ukraine and has also been wracked by the war. Both sides thanked U.S. first lady Melania Trump for what the White House said was her role in helping broker the temporary ceasefire so that food and medical supplies can reach some desperate 2,000 people trapped in Oleshky.
Pope Leo XIV also pressed for a truce. The mechanics of how that might work were unclear. Lantratova said she and her team were on their way to Oleshky for the aid delivery, while Lubinets arrived in Belarus and will head to the city from there, as part of an operation that Lantratova said was five months in the making.
In the city of Kherson, growing numbers of people were out on the streets as the truce held. Nataliia Myronenko, 42, had a steady stream of customers at her coffee kiosk since early Thursday. You keep looking at your feet because of the mines, but you’re not afraid of dying.
It’s so great,” she said. American military support is vital for Ukraine, but U.S. President Donald Trump has recently indicated that he is disengaging with Kyiv as he waived sanctions on Russia and publicly chided Zelenskyy.
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