A ceasefire that began with the aim of getting food and medicine to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky has been extended across the wider southern region of Kherson, according to sources. Several thousand residents are trapped in the city with no access to food, water and electricity. On one side is the Dnipro river, while Russian forces are on the other and all the roads out are too dangerous.
However, no breaches of the truce that began early on Tuesday have so far been reported. US First Lady Melania Trump, who helped broker the ceasefire along with Pope Leo XIV, said on Tuesday that the area involved had been expanded to provide "safe passage" for humanitarian convoys. That was later corroborated by the press secretary to Ukraine's public ombudsman, and by Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, deputy head of Kherson, who said Russian shelling had stopped both in Kherson city, which is in Ukrainian hands, and the wider region.
Under the deal, the ceasefire will be followed by deliveries of humanitarian aid to Oleshky and then evacuations, planned for Friday, for anyone wishing to leave. An estimated 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in Oleshky itself and a few thousand more in surrounding areas. Many residents have resorted to cooking garden weeds to survive, telling the BBC they are suffering extreme hunger and want to leave.
Both sides said the ceasefire was being observed. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said everything was proceeding "according to plan", and paid tribute to US mediation and in particular representatives of Melania Trump. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said if the ceasefire produced results, it could "pave the way for other steps in the peace process".
A key official in President Volodymyr Zelensky's parliamentary party, David Arakhamia, said it would continue until 22:59 Ukrainian time on Sunday 1 November, and described the truce as the "largest de-escalation since 2022". Before the war Oleshky was home to 24,000 people, but it was seized by Russia during the first days of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. No shops are open, and the city has had no electricity, gas or water since the Kakhovka Dam was blown up in 2023, flooding the area and killing many people in Oleshky itself.
Conditions have become so desperate that not only is getting supplies into the city extremely difficult, but escaping is too risky because the routes out of Oleshky have been mined and subject to drone attack. One woman told the BBC she had stepped on a landmine and was currently in hospital where she had undergone two operations: "I don't know how long I will have to spend there," she said, worried about not being able to join the evacuation. Pope Leo appealed earlier this month to Russia's President Vladimir Putin to allow food and medical aid into Oleshky as well as a safe evacuation, and urged his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to co-operate with Moscow over a ceasefire.
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