US-brokered ceasefire starts in Ukrainian town facing starvation

KYIV, Ukraine — A ceasefire began on Tuesday around the Ukrainian town of Oleshky after more than four years of Russian occupation which have left trapped and starving residents desperate for food, water ​and medicine.

The local ceasefire, brokered by first lady Melania Trump with the involvement of Pope Leo XIV, is intended to allow aid into Oleshky and enable those who want to leave to do so. Some residents say they have survived on a cup of rice or buckwheat a day, sometimes with a tomato, cucumber or wild ‌weed added.

Russia and Ukraine both said they were abiding by the local ceasefire around the frontline city, which went into force at 3 a.m. Ukrainian time (6 p.m. MDT Monday) as part of stuttering U.S. efforts to end Russia's war in Ukraine and is ⁠due to last until Nov. 1.

The ceasefire does not apply elsewhere, and Russian forces again ​pounded the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with ballistic missiles overnight, killing at least one person, ⁠local officials said.

Kyiv residents said they hoped the Oleshky ceasefire would finally bring some relief to locals, but optimism was tinged with concerns that Russia would not abide by the terms of ‌the agreement.

"I want to hope that things will ‌indeed work out this way, that the agreement will actually be implemented, and that the Russian side will keep its word," Olha Haiduk, 59, told ⁠Reuters.

The head of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's ruling faction in parliament, David Arakhamia, called it the "biggest deescalation since 2022."

Russian occupation

Oleshky lies ⁠on the eastern bank of the Dnipro River in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, opposite Kherson city, which is held by Ukrainian forces. Russian troops seized Oleshky during the first days of their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and have controlled it ever since.

Oleshky has suffered extensive war damage and was hit hard by flooding after the destruction of the nearby Kakhovka dam in 2023.

The United States has said only a few thousand people remain in the town from a prewar population of 24,000. Residents and officials have reported severe shortages of food, medicine and other basic supplies, and Oleshky has been largely cut off from running water, electricity, gas and central heating.

Residents have offered harrowing accounts ‌of risking their lives traveling along mine-strewn roads just to access food and water, one of which they call the "road of death."

Ukrainian ​and Russian officials have said humanitarian corridors will be established to allow aid deliveries and the movement of residents. This is expected to involve demining of roads and could take several days.

One resident who managed to flee Oleshky told Reuters many of those remaining in Oleshky are sick or elderly, and that it would be difficult for them to relocate.

Ukraine and Russia blame each other for the humanitarian crisis in Oleshky. Drones present the greatest threat to civilian life, and the town is within easy reach of unmanned aerial vehicles belonging to both armies.

White House envoys have talked to both sides in recent days as part of the U.S. efforts to mediate an end to Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

Zelenskyy said last week that three-way talks would continue in Abu Dhabi in early November. Russia's pace of battlefield gains has slowed this year, but it has ​said Kyiv must cede the remaining 20% of the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine that it still controls before Russian forces stop fighting.

Nataliia Bondar, a 52-year-old accountant in Kyiv, said she was pessimistic about Washington's ability to negotiate with ‌Russian President Vladimir ‌Putin.

"Unfortunately, it seems to me that they ⁠are somewhat in their own world and do not understand the true nature of this man," she said. "That you should not negotiate with him."

New strikes on Kyiv

Russia's overnight strikes damaged a university campus and Kyiv's important South Bridge, in what Zelenskyy described as "a serious escalation" against Ukrainian logistics.

A Ukrainian military source said the bridge had been hit with four Iskander ballistic missiles.

Zelenskyy said energy facilities, logistics and infrastructure in 10 other regions also came under attack overnight.

Moscow's Defense Ministry said it had struck transport infrastructure in Kyiv, a logistics hub in the Kharkiv region, as well as industrial facilities ‌and cargo vessels in attacks aimed at military ​targets.

In Russia, a drone attack killed one person in the western city of Bryansk near the border with ‌Ukraine, authorities said. One person was killed and 30 ⁠injured in a strike on a bus ​in a Moscow-held part of Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, officials said.

Reuters could not immediately independently verify the reports. Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians.

Contributing: Jekaterīna Golubkova and Tom Balmforth

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