Kherson, Ukraine — A jet-powered Russian drone hit two passenger trains stopped at a station in Dnipro in central Ukraine Thursday, killing at least 14 people and injuring 14 more, including a 40-year-old man whose legs were amputated, officials said. A Russian cruise missile killed two 15-year-old girls in the northern city of Chernihiv, meanwhile, and three more civilians died when a Russian drone hit an apartment block in the central city of Kremenchuk, Ukrainian authorities said. In all, 56 people were injured in the strikes, including 10 children, as Russia continued its deadly attacks on civilians even as a localized ceasefire credited by both sides to U.S. first lady Melania Trump held in the stricken city of Oleshky.
Humanitarian aid was poised to roll into Oleshky, a Ukrainian official said Thursday, as the limited ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine stretched into a third day and military units cleared away landmines. Moscow and Kyiv have observed the truce in and around the devastated southern Ukrainian city since Tuesday, but the neighboring nations remain otherwise locked in the war that began with Russia's full-scale invasion more than 4 ½ years ago. Previous efforts to secure ceasefires either never worked out or the truces quickly fell apart.
Russia's Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight in one of the largest drone attacks launched by Kyiv. Around half of the drones were heading to the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The planned six-day ceasefire around Russian-occupied Oleshky has brought a rare and welcome stillness for civilians in the nearby city of Kherson, which is held by Ukraine and has also been wracked by the war.
Both sides thanked Melania Trump for what the White House said was her role in helping broker the temporary ceasefire so food and medical supplies can be delivered to some 2,000 desperate people trapped in Oleshky. Pope Leo XIV also pressed for a truce. "The parties are fully adhering to the agreements, and no violations of the ceasefire have been reported," Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Thursday, adding that aid deliveries were due to begin the following day.
His Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, confirmed the truce was holding and that Russian engineers are working on demining Oleshky's roads. "Both sides are fully honoring their commitments, and no violations have been recorded," she said. "This allows military personnel to continue clearing roads of mines and to prepare a safe passage for the humanitarian convoy." Local people will also be able to evacuate, either into Russia or Ukraine, per their wishes, officials say.
The mechanics of how that might work remained unclear. Lantratova said she and her team were on their way to Oleshky for the aid delivery, adding that the operation was five months in the making. Russian and Ukrainian representatives met in the Belarus city of Homel on Thursday to fly together to the Kherson region, Belarus state media reported.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
