A rare humanitarian ceasefire brokered by first lady Melania Trump to save people trapped in a Russian-occupied Ukrainian town went into effect early Tuesday. After months of warnings from Ukrainian officials about an unraveling humanitarian catastrophe in the front-line town of Oleshky, in the southern Kherson region, the White House announced last week that the first lady had secured a pause in the fighting. The agreement between Ukraine and Russia would “temporarily stop all military action in Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and to prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe passageway,” according to a statement released Friday.
Both the Ukrainian and Russian militaries have confirmed that the ceasefire will start at 3 a.m. local time (9 p.m. ET) to ensure what they have both called a “humanitarian operation.” Neither side has indicated when the temporary truce would end. The ceasefire announcement came amid renewed pressure from President Donald Trump on his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to reach an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
In recent weeks, Ukraine has complained of gaps in intelligence sharing from the U.S. and a slowdown of Elon Musk’s Starlink service, which is crucial for its military. Earlier this month, Trump also eased some sanctions on the Kremlin allowing Russia to supply diesel to the global market in an apparent bid to lower prices ahead of the midterm elections, reversing years of American policy — a move that raised alarm in Ukraine and Europe. But in a rare intervention from the first lady, the White House statement quoted her as saying that Oleshky was “on the brink of disaster” and its remaining population, composed primarily of elderly residents, was in urgent need of medical attention, medicine, food and clean water.
An “impartial American media organization” will document the process to ensure “that the wishes of each family are faithfully respected,” it added. The ceasefire is likely to last several days as the Russian side has to “clear the roads of mines,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Ukraine’s TSN TV channel Sunday, adding that his forces would have to verify the area is clear. They are not going to simply let people go,” he said.
Both sides blame each other for the crisis in Oleshky. Kyiv has accused Russian forces of mining nearby roads and using the remaining residents as human shields to prevent Ukraine’s army from conducting offensive operations in the town. Meanwhile, Russia has blamed Ukraine for “laying siege to the town” with drone strikes and preventing humanitarian aid from getting in.
Last month, the Kremlin acknowledged problems with food and medical supplies getting into Oleshky, saying its military was working to resolve them. Ukrainian media has for months been featuring interviews with people who have managed to escape Oleshky and spoken to relatives of those who remain there — an estimated 2,000 people, including children. Some said the town was on the verge of starvation and residents were relying on homegrown produce to survive.
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