A ceasefire to carry out a humanitarian operation began this morning on the outskirts of Oleshky, an isolated city in southern Ukraine, under Russian occupation and facing shortage of supplies, confirmed sources from both countries.
© 34th Separate Marine Brigade “Borysfen” / Handout via REUTERS
27/10/2026
by
Lusa
Ua ceasefire to carry out a humanitarian operation began this morning on the outskirts of Oleshky, an isolated city in southern Ukraine, under Russian occupation and facing shortages of supplies, confirmed sources from both countries.
This is a truce located and agreed on by both sides and taking place at a time when US President Donald Trump shows signs of rapprochement with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In Oleshky, the approximately 2,000 residents are surrounded – without access to food and medicine – with Kyiv and Moscow confirming the localized suspension of the fighting, as predicted, at the beginning of the last morning.
The reporters of the France Presse Agency (AFP) in the region were unable to verify the interruption of hostilities, whose duration and geographical scope remain uncertain.
Although Russia has been rejecting a general ceasefire since the invasion began, the US First Lady Melania Trump announced on Friday the truce located to facilitate the dispatch of humanitarian aid.
Melania Trump stated that residents wishing to leave the region would receive coordinated assistance, as well as transport “to the destination” they define.
The Russian Ministry of Defense informed on the same day that the troops would carry out a “technical recognition” to the site to ensure the safety of a passage, ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid and allow the withdrawal of civilians.
On Sunday, Ukrainian head of state, Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of wanting to dominate the Oleshky area and cause civilians to leave the city toward “the Russian side”.
Situated on the Dnieper River, which marks the front line in the southern Kherson region, Oleshky has been under Russian occupation since the first weeks of the large-scale invasion that began in February 2022.
The city is less than 10 kilometres from Kherson, the regional capital, taken over by the Ukrainian army during a counter-offensive in November 2022.
The inhabitants who still remain in the city are quite isolated because Oleshky is under the constant threat of explosive drones, both Russian and Ukrainian, which attack vehicles, and access roads are virtually blocked by land mines.
According to former residents heard by AFP in early October, the situation has caused a serious shortage of food and medicines in recent weeks.
The number of inhabitants of Oleshky, already hit by the severe floods of 2023 after the explosion of a dam, an act attributed to Russia by Kyiv, decreased from 24,000 to approximately 2,000 people.
The truce process in the city takes place in a context of rapprochement between US President Donald Trump and Russia.
On Monday, Russia showed openness to other humanitarian truces, reaffirming that it values the efforts of US negotiators, especially Melania Trump's initiatives.
However, Russia has removed any wider ceasefire, as requested by Ukraine and European partners, stressing that the November negotiations between Moscow, Kyiv and Washington do not imply a reduction in military operations.
In Kyiv, who lives in an almost permanent state of alert, the Russian attacks killed a person last night and hit a bridge in the south of the city, damaging the infrastructure of the metropolitan, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
“ It is important that our partners understand that Ukraine needs real means to destroy Russian ballistic missile launchers,” Volodymyr Zelensky lamented on Monday night, demanding that political agreements be implemented quickly.
In occupied Ukrainian territory, a bus traveling from Moscow to the annexed Crimea was hit by a Ukrainian drone, making one dead and 31 wounded, according to Russian-appointed governor Evgueni Balitski.