KHERSON, Ukraine — A planned six-day ceasefire in and around a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine held for its first day and night, officials said Wednesday, but Moscow and Kyiv continued to batter each other elsewhere.
The localized truce in the devastated southern city of Oleshky began Tuesday and is due to last through Sunday as a humanitarian operation races to get urgently needed food and medicine to about 2,000 remaining residents, as well as evacuate those who want to leave.
If the ceasefire holds, it will be the first time since Russia’s invasion of its neighbor more than 4 ½ years ago that the two sides have observed a significant truce. Previous attempts to stop the fighting have either failed to take hold or quickly unraveled amid deep mistrust.
A U.S. representative will join the Oleshky mission, a Ukrainian official says
A representative from the United States will join civilian officials from Russia and Ukraine when they go into Oleshky, Ukraine’s lead negotiator for the aid mission said.
“As soon as the road (into Oleshky) is de-mined and the humanitarian cargo is delivered there, representatives of three countries — Ukraine, the United States, and the Russian Federation — will be present on the spot,” Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said.
Evacuated residents will be free to choose between Ukraine and Russia as their destination, he said in an interview with Ukraine’s private 1+1 television.
Authorities will try to ensure that aid will continue flowing into Oleshky for anyone who wants to remain, he said.
Russia and Ukraine thank Melania Trump
Negotiators involved in the aid mission said doctors, medicines, food supplies and water would be sent to Oleshky before any evacuation corridors are opened.
Russia’s occupying forces impose strict limits on who can enter Oleshky, and there was no news on how the humanitarian operation was unfolding.
Russia’s ombudsperson Yana Lantratova and Lubinets, Ukraine’s ombudsperson, both said Wednesday there had been no ceasefire violations in Oleshky for 30 hours.
The plight of the city in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region caught the attention of U.S. first lady Melania Trump, and the White House said she brokered the humanitarian mission.
Pope Leo XIV also spoke this month with presidents Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin of Russia, urging them to allow humanitarian aid into Oleshky and the safe evacuation of civilians, the Vatican said.
Both Ukrainian and Russian officials, eager to win President Trump’s approval as he pushes for an elusive peace settlement, thanked Melania Trump for her role.
U.S. awaits Middle East events before setting date for Russia-Ukraine talks
The ceasefire coincided with U.S.-led plans to bring Moscow and Kyiv officials back to the table next month for technical talks on how to move forward on ending the war, even though neither side shows signs of backing down from their key demands.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, speaking in Helsinki on Wednesday, said Kyiv “will never accept any formula at the cost of our sovereignty or territorial integrity.”
Talks between delegations from Ukraine, Russia and the United States that are expected to take place in Abu Dhabi in November have not yet been scheduled because Washington is awaiting developments in the Middle East, Zelensky told reporters in remarks Tuesday that were embargoed until Wednesday.
Zelensky said the leaders of Finland and Norway, who spoke to Putin by phone Tuesday, told him that Russia is “serious” about discussing steps to de-escalate the war.
The Ukrainian president said these could include a pause in attacks targeting energy infrastructure and commercial sea traffic, further prisoner exchanges, and a discussion of formats for possible meetings at leaders’ level.
The call to the Kremlin by Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb was surprising. European countries have sought to diplomatically isolate the Russian leader since the invasion.
But since Putin’s summit with Trump in Alaska last year, Zelensky noted, European governments have quietly resumed contacts with Moscow at the level of national security advisers and between intelligence agencies.
Zelensky sees U.S. disengagement with Kyiv
The Iran war has depleted stocks of U.S.-made Patriot air defense systems that Ukraine desperately needs to stop Russia’s ballistic missiles.
Ukraine is now getting an average of 12 Patriot interceptor missiles per month this year — a sharp drop from delivery rates in previous years, Zelensky told reporters.
“Imagine this: you can count on getting 150 missiles a year from America, while you have to shoot down 150 ballistic missiles a month,” he said.
Patriot delivery delays appeared to be part of a trend of U.S. disengagement with Kyiv, Zelensky said, following disruptions in vital internet satellite links and intelligence sharing as well as a recent Trump administration agreement to purchase Russian diesel and waive sanctions.
In contrast, Zelensky thanked Britain for announcing Wednesday an additional 10 billion British pounds ($11.1 billion) in financial support for Ukraine — 7 billion pounds ($7.8 billion) in economic support over the next three years, and another 3 billion pounds ($3.3 billion) in British export support, primarily for the supply of weapons. The amounts come on top of Britain’s current annual support, he said.
He said that Prime Minister Andy Burnham is “on the right side of history.” Zelensky said earlier this month that someone is pushing Trump into a stance that is “not the right side of history.”
Elsewhere, the war rages on
A Russian drone strike on the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv overnight wounded five people, including a four-year-old child, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.
The jet-powered drone attack started a major fire that set alight an apartment building, a private house and an industrial building, the emergency services said.
In Russia, meanwhile, the Defense Ministry said that air defenses downed 531 Ukrainian drones from late Tuesday through early Wednesday.
Officials said apartment buildings and industrial infrastructure in three regions were targeted, wounding eight people.
Arhirova and Gatopoulos write for the Associated Press. Gatopoulos contributed from Kyiv, Ukraine.
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