Aid Truce Begins in Southern Ukraine as Missiles Strike Capital
A five-day pause in fighting allows a humanitarian mission to reach Oleshky, while new attacks kill three people in Kyiv and Kharkiv.
By Kevin Iyer ·
A temporary ceasefire took effect at 3 a.m. Tuesday in southern Ukraine, clearing the way for an aid mission to the town of Oleshky. The pause in fighting is designed to get supplies to roughly 2,000 residents who are currently stranded by mines and drone attacks.
The truce was brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump, who held talks with civilian negotiators from both sides following a briefing from U.N. officials. The operation is scheduled to run through Saturday, though negotiators note that deep mistrust between the two nations has complicated previous ceasefires.
While the local front remained quiet, the capital city of Kyiv came under heavy attack minutes after the ceasefire began. Multiple ballistic missile explosions shook the city, triggering air alerts across the country. City officials reported that Russian missiles damaged the grounds of a university, killing one person and injuring ten.
Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, also sustained damage late Monday. Authorities there said the attacks killed two people and injured four others. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted online shortly after the strikes, stating that Russia showed a desire to continue waging war.
Oleshky is located in the Kherson region, about 340 miles southeast of Kyiv. It sits across the Dnipro River from the city of Kherson. Russian forces captured the town on the first day of the full-scale invasion in 2022. In June 2023, floodwaters from a collapsed dam inundated the area, adding to the crisis for residents who have limited access to food and medicine.
Negotiators involved in the current mission said doctors, medicines, food, and water would be transported to Oleshky before evacuation corridors open. The aid delivery is a precursor to a new round of U.S.-brokered talks expected next month. Those discussions aim to end the conflict, which has persisted for more than four and a half years.
Both Russian and Ukrainian militaries confirmed in separate statements that the local ceasefire had begun. The mission provides a narrow window for humanitarian access in a region where the Dnipro River separates opposing forces.
