A localized ceasefire took hold early Tuesday in Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine's Kherson region, after the White House said US First Lady Melania Trump helped broker the truce to let aid reach thousands of trapped, hungry civilians.
Russia's defence ministry said on Telegram that its forces stopped firing toward the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson, across the Dnipro River from Oleshky, at 04:00 Moscow time (01:00 GMT) Tuesday, in preparation for a humanitarian operation. Ukraine's parliamentary commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, who led Kyiv's side of the negotiations, confirmed the truce was holding. "As head of the Ukrainian negotiating team, I confirm that the Ukrainian side is honouring its commitments," he wrote on Facebook.
A city cut off for three years
Oleshky was seized by Russian forces during the opening days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. It is hemmed in between the Dnipro, which forms the front line, and Russian positions beyond it. Ukraine estimates roughly 6,000 people, including about 200 children, remain in the city and its surrounding areas, down from a pre-war population of 24,000. No shops are open, and residents have had no electricity, gas or running water for three years. With Ukrainian aid convoys unable to get through safely and mined roads ruling out travel on foot, many residents have resorted to cooking garden weeds to survive, according to accounts gathered by the BBC this week from people still trapped inside.
An evacuation of civilians who want to leave, to either Russian- or Ukrainian-held territory, is planned for Friday. One woman recovering from surgery after stepping on a land mine told the BBC she was desperate to be included. "I don't know how long I will have to spend there," she said, worried she would miss the window to leave.
A quiet diplomatic role
The White House said last week that Melania Trump had secured the ceasefire, without detailing how long it would last, adding that "non-military, civilian leaders from both countries will work together to visit Oleshky residents in their homes and determine the level of assistance they require." The first lady has kept a lower public profile than many of her predecessors, rarely appearing at White House events, but has intermittently engaged with humanitarian fallout from the war. In August 2025 she wrote to Russian President Vladimir Putin urging him that it was "time to protect children and future generations worldwide."
Some residents who spoke to the BBC said they were wary of what comes next: fears persist that Russian forces may not allow evacuees to return to Ukrainian-held territory, or could search their phones for signs of pro-Ukrainian sympathies, which some worry could lead to detention or worse. Kyiv has tried and failed in recent months to get supplies into the city by other means, officials say, making this week's narrow opening unusually consequential for those still inside.
What happens next
If Friday's evacuation proceeds as planned, it would mark the first sustained access aid groups and civilians have had to Oleshky since the invasion began. Both sides have signaled the truce is limited to the humanitarian operation around Oleshky and Kherson, not a broader halt in the wider war. President Trump, asked this week whether he might join a trilateral peace effort directly, said doing so was "not the worst idea I've ever heard," a notably open-ended response that will be watched closely as the Friday evacuation approaches.
