Truce halts shelling in Oleshky for aid delivery

Russia and Ukraine began a local ceasefire in Oleshky on Tuesday morning.

The pause in fighting is designed to support a humanitarian operation in the town, which has been under Russian control since early 2022. Russian defense officials said they stopped shelling toward Kherson at 4 a.m. Moscow time. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian parliament commissioner for human rights, confirmed the start of the truce on Facebook. He stated that the Ukrainian side is honoring its commitments as part of the negotiating team's agreement.

Oleshky sits on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River, directly opposite the city of Kherson. Residents there have faced severe shortages of food and medicine. The ceasefire allows aid convoys to enter and permits evacuations from the frontline location. The White House indicated last week that US First Lady Melania Trump played a role in securing this specific arrangement.

The local truce comes amid continued conflict elsewhere in the country. A Russian missile strike hit Kyiv on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring 10. The blast affected students in a dormitory and caused casualties in the cities of Kharkiv and Pavlohrad. New explosions were reported in Kyiv on Tuesday morning according to a Reuters witness.