A humanitarian mission entered the devastated, Russian-held town of Oleshky in Ukraine's southern Kherson region on Friday, officials from both warring sides said, as Russia and Ukraine observed what the Associated Press called the most significant truce of the four-and-a-half-year war. A convoy of 25 buses, ambulances and aid vehicles was due in the town to deliver food and medicine and to evacuate people who want to leave, to Ukraine or to Russia.

Source: Associated Press

Ukraine's human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said on X that the Ukrainian delegation had safely reached the city, that the ceasefire had been in effect for 80 hours, and that he was on the ground speaking with residents about what they need most. Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said evacuations and the distribution of humanitarian aid had begun. In identical statements, the two countries said: “Everyone who wishes to leave Oleshky will have the opportunity to do so safely. Those who choose to stay may remain and will receive all the humanitarian support they need.”

Appearing side by side in Oleshky on Friday, Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova and Lubinets updated reporters together — a rare joint appearance. “The aid was assembled based on the specific needs reported to us; it includes food, hygiene products, essential medical supplies, fuel — everything the people require,” Lantratova said, according to Reuters. Lubinets said: “We have reached an agreement to assist citizens who wish to travel to Ukraine — they will be provided with the opportunity to do so. Likewise, assistance will be available to those who wish to travel to the Russian Federation.”

Source: Reuters

Lantratova said the 25 buses had special provision for people who are bedridden, and that there was even a bus with pet cages for residents who wished to take their animals with them, Reuters reported. Lubinets said the evacuation would run until 2 p.m. local time and that aid would begin being distributed 30 minutes later. A volunteer from Oleshky, Ksenia Arkhipova, told the Associated Press on Thursday that roughly 1,000 residents had told her they want to leave the city, and that many residents feared Russian authorities would interrogate or detain them if the Ukrainian delegation were not present.

A town seized in 2022, flooded in 2023, starved since

Oleshky sits on the Dnipro River opposite the city of Kherson, a couple of kilometres from Ukrainian-held territory, and was seized by Russian troops during the first days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. It suffered extensive damage and was badly flooded after the destruction of the upriver Kakhovka dam in 2023. Residents have given harrowing accounts, reported by Reuters, of risking their lives on mine-strewn roads — one known as the “road of death” — just to get food and water, with some surviving on a cup of rice or buckwheat a day. Demining of the designated routes into the city was completed late on Thursday; officials said two people, including a sapper, were killed during the work.

Four days of quiet — but only around Oleshky

The local ceasefire came into force early on Tuesday and is due to continue through Sunday evening. “This is the first time since 2022 that a ceasefire has been established across such an extensive stretch of the front line and has been maintained for such a significant duration,” Lubinets said. The White House says the truce was brokered by first lady Melania Trump, and Pope Leo XIV also pressed the Russian and Ukrainian leaders to help Oleshky. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, however, said on Friday that the Oleshky situation was an isolated case that should not be extrapolated to the broader peace process, according to AFP reporting. Outside Oleshky, the war continued: Russia's defence ministry said its air defences downed more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones overnight, and Ukraine's air force said Russia launched ballistic and other missiles as well as scores of drones — claims each side made about the other, which Awaaz Punjab has not independently verified. US-mediated peace talks are due to resume next month in Abu Dhabi, Reuters reported.