Oleshky Truce Widened Across Kherson Ahead of Friday Evacuations
A ceasefire agreed to get food and medicine into Russian-occupied Oleshky has been extended across the wider Kherson region, Ukrainian officials say, with no breaches reported. Melania Trump, who brokered it with Pope Leo XIV, said the area had been widened to give humanitarian convoys “safe passage”. Aid deliveries are to be followed by evacuations, planned for Friday, for anyone who wishes to leave.
An estimated 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in a town of 24,000 before the war, some cooking garden weeds to survive. Both sides are, unusually, saying warm things. The Kremlin’s Dmitry Peskov said all was proceeding “according to plan”. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said success could “pave the way for other steps in the peace process”. David Arakhamia, of Zelensky’s party, said the truce runs to 22:59 Ukrainian time on Sunday 1 November, calling it the “largest de-escalation since 2022”. The wider picture is harsher. A UN commission of inquiry this week found Russia’s strikes on energy infrastructure “were carried out with intent”; Moscow dismissed its data as “falsified”. Winter will test the truce more than this week does.