A pause in shelling around Oleshky
Russia and Ukraine began a limited ceasefire on Tuesday to open the way for a humanitarian operation in Oleshky, a town under Russian occupation in southern Ukraine, according to statements from both sides. Moscow's defence ministry announced on Telegram that its forces halted shelling in the direction of the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson from 4 a.m. Moscow time, or 0100 GMT, so that preparations could proceed in Oleshky, which sits on the opposite bank of the Dnipro River.[S1][S2][S3]
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's parliament commissioner for human rights, said in a Facebook post that the truce had taken effect at the same hour. Writing in his capacity as head of the Ukrainian negotiating team, he stated that Kyiv was fulfilling what it had committed to. The arrangement is meant to permit aid convoys to enter and allow people to leave a frontline community where food and medicine have become severely scarce.[S1]
A town held since the first days of the invasion
Oleshky sits on the Dnipro's eastern side in southern Ukraine's Kherson region, directly across the river from the city of Kherson, which Ukrainian forces control. Russian troops captured the town in the earliest days of the February 2022 invasion and have held it ever since. Last week the White House stated that US first lady Melania Trump helped bring about the ceasefire around Oleshky.[S1]
Fighting continues elsewhere in Ukraine
The limited truce did not extend to the rest of the country. A Russian missile strike on Kyiv on Monday killed at least one person and wounded 10, among them students at a dormitory, while attacks in Kharkiv and Pavlohrad also caused deaths and injuries. A Reuters witness reported fresh explosions in the capital on Tuesday morning.[S1]
