Lubinets, Lantratova Report Oleshky Truce Holding as Aid Convoy Readies
A humanitarian delivery to roughly 2,000 residents is planned for Friday under an agreement brokered with U.S. first lady Melania Trump's involvement.
By Vikram Harrison ·
KHERSON: Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Thursday that the localized ceasefire around Russian-occupied Oleshky had held for 54 hours, with aid deliveries scheduled to begin Friday. "The ceasefire has been in place for 54 hours now," Lubinets said, adding that the parties were adhering to the agreement with no violations reported.
Russian ombudsman Yana Lantratova confirmed the truce was holding and said Russian engineers were de-mining roads in Oleshky. "Both sides are fully honoring their commitments, and no violations have been recorded," Lantratova said, adding that the work allowed military personnel to clear roads and prepare a safe passage for the humanitarian convoy. Both officials said the operation was five months in the making.
Moscow and Kyiv have observed the truce in and around Oleshky since Tuesday, the first sustained pause in the conflict since Russia's full-scale invasion more than four and a half years ago. The White House said U.S. first lady Melania Trump helped broker the temporary agreement, and Pope Leo XIV also pressed for a truce. The pause is intended to allow food and medical supplies to reach about 2,000 people in Oleshky, and officials said local residents could evacuate into either Russia or Ukraine. The mechanics of that evacuation remained unclear.
Elsewhere in Ukraine, a jet-powered Russian drone struck two passenger trains stopped at a station in Dnipro, killing at least 14 people and injuring 10 others, officials said. A Russian cruise missile killed two 15-year-old girls in Chernihiv, and two more civilians died when a drone hit an apartment block in Kremenchuk, authorities said.
Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight in one of the largest drone attacks launched by Kyiv. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said about half were headed toward the capital.
In Kherson, held by Ukraine and located near Oleshky, residents returned to the streets as the truce held. Nataliia Myronenko, 42, said her coffee kiosk had steady customers at lunchtime and in the evening, hours she did not have under the attacks. "Now, during the quiet, we have people at lunchtime and in the evening, which we didn't have under the attacks," she said. "For a while, people would race down this street because they were afraid to stop."
