Ceasefire Around Occupied Oleshky Widens to Kherson Region; Evacuation Planned for Friday

A ceasefire that began Tuesday to get food and medicine into the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky has been extended across the wider southern Kherson region, the BBC reported, and both sides said it was being observed.

Several thousand residents are trapped in Oleshky with no access to food, water or electricity. The city sits between the Dnipro River and Russian lines, and the roads out have been mined and targeted by drones. An estimated 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in the city and a few thousand more in surrounding areas. Before the full-scale invasion, Oleshky was home to 24,000 people. Russia seized it in the first days of the war in February 2022, and it has had no electricity, gas or water since the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed in 2023, the BBC reported. Residents told the BBC they have been cooking garden weeds to survive.

U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, who helped broker the truce with Pope Leo XIV, said on X that the area covered "has expanded beyond Oleshky, within the Kherson region, to provide safe passage for the humanitarian convoys." Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, deputy head of Kherson, said Russian shelling had stopped in Kherson city, which Ukraine holds, and the wider region.

Under the deal, aid deliveries would come first, possibly Thursday, after roads are cleared of mines, followed by an evacuation planned for Friday for anyone who wants to leave. Russia's defense ministry said army units had been conducting "engineering reconnaissance" and clearing access roads of "explosive and booby-trap devices." A local volunteer told the BBC about 500 people had expressed interest in leaving by Tuesday afternoon, though many residents are wary of giving officials their names and addresses.

David Arakhamia, a senior official in President Volodymyr Zelensky's party, said the ceasefire would last until 22:59 Ukrainian time on Sunday, Nov. 1, and called it the "largest de-escalation since 2022." Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said everything was proceeding "according to plan" and credited U.S. mediation. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that if it works, it could "pave the way for other steps in the peace process."

Pope Leo appealed earlier this month to President Vladimir Putin to allow aid and a safe evacuation, and the White House said last week that Melania Trump had secured a ceasefire.

Many details of the evacuation remain unclear, including where evacuees will be taken and how the injured will be moved. One woman told the BBC she was in the hospital after stepping on a landmine and feared missing the evacuation.