Oleshky Aid Corridor Opens Oct. 29; Moscow Halts Fire Oct. 27
The localized ceasefire covers Oleshky, a city across the Dnipro from Kherson where 1,700 to 2,000 people remain.
By Marco Graham ·
A temporary halt to military action in the Russian-held city of Oleshky will let aid in and set up a civilian evacuation, the White House announced on Friday, saying Melania Trump and her representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to set terms. The pause is scheduled to begin on Oct. 29.
The White House said both countries agreed to stop all military action in the city so a humanitarian convoy can enter and a civilian evacuation can be prepared along a designated safe passage. Non-military teams from both sides would visit residents at home and arrange transport for anyone who wants to leave for either Russia or Ukraine. Melania Trump said in the statement that "the situation in Oleshky is dire," and described the remaining population as mostly elderly people who need medical attention, medicine, food and clean water.
Oleshky sits across the Dnipro River from Kherson. The White House put the current population at 1,700 to 2,000 residents, including about 50 children, down from roughly 24,000 before the war. The city was about 90 per cent flooded after the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed.
Ukraine's top negotiator, David Arakhamia, wrote on Telegram that the humanitarian operation would start once the ceasefire takes hold, adding that the accord followed a long process involving Melania Trump and Pope Leo and would create a corridor for people to leave and for assistance to come in. The Kremlin said an evacuation would take at least a few days, and praised Melania Trump. Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov said Russian forces will stop firing from 4 a.m. local time on Oct. 27 to support the operation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the United States agreed to hold technical-level talks in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. Zelenskyy told the Hudson Institute any peace deal would need strong security guarantees and 10 years of funding for Ukraine's army.
Fighting continued on Friday. Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport briefly suspended operations over a Ukrainian drone threat, and Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences downed 21 drones headed for the capital over two hours. The two sides also exchanged 270 prisoners each. Ukraine's acting prosecutor general, Anton Kovalskyi, said more than 19,000 Ukrainian civilians, including 762 children, have been killed since the full-scale invasion began.
