In a Russian-occupied Ukrainian city where residents say they have gone three years without power, gas or running water, and some have survived on weeds, the guns have fallen silent for now. A truce, which the White House credits to the American First Lady Melania Trump, has opened a narrow window for aid and for a planned civilian evacuation on Friday. Yet the people it is meant to help meet the arrangement with caution, since the routes out may run through territory held by the very power that controls their city.
Fighting Halts in Occupied Oleshky Under Truce Secured by Melania Trump, Aid and Evacuation Planned
Residents of Oleshky have reportedly had no electricity, gas or water for three years and have said they had to eat weeds to survive.
In a Russian-occupied Ukrainian city where residents say they have gone three years without power, gas or running water, and some have survived on weeds, the guns have fallen silent for now. A truce, which the White House credits to the American First Lady Melania Trump, has opened a narrow window for aid and for a planned civilian evacuation on Friday. Yet the people it is meant to help meet the arrangement with caution, since the routes out may run through territory held by the very power that controls their city.
In the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky, residents describe three years without electricity, gas or water. Some told the BBC they had to eat weeds just to get by. For the first time in a long while, the fighting there has stopped.
The pause comes from a truce that the White House says was secured by the US First Lady, Melania Trump. The reporting available does not yet explain how the deal was reached or what its terms are beyond its stated purpose. That purpose is practical: a window for aid deliveries and a civilian evacuation planned for Friday, which would mean supplies arriving and a way out for those who want to leave.
But residents were not simply relieved. They spoke of being weary of the ceasefire, and their concern centres on the evacuation routes, which could take people through Crimea and Russia, territory held by the side occupying their city. For civilians leaving under an occupying power's authority, the path matters as much as the exit.
What is established is limited: the fighting has halted, and aid and evacuation are the stated aims. What remains open is considerable. Whether people will board the transport at all, and where it would take them, will decide whether the truce delivers what it promises. Friday will tell the story.
In the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky, residents say they have gone three years without electricity, gas or water. Some told the BBC they had to eat weeds to get by. Now, for the first time in a long while, the fighting there has stopped.
The pause comes from a truce that the White House says was secured by the US First Lady, Melania Trump. The detail is notable: the claim of who brokered the arrangement comes from the White House, and the reporting available here does not lay out how the deal was reached or what its terms are beyond its stated purpose.
That purpose is practical. The truce is meant to open a window for aid deliveries into the city and for a civilian evacuation, which is planned for Friday. For people who have lived without basic utilities for so long, both would mean something concrete: supplies arriving, and a way out for those who want to leave.
But residents who spoke to the BBC were not simply relieved. They described themselves as weary of the ceasefire, and their concern centres on the evacuation routes. Those routes could potentially take people through Crimea and Russia, territory controlled by the side that occupies their city. For civilians who would be leaving under the authority of an occupying power, the path matters as much as the exit itself.
The BBC's Ukraine correspondent, Dan Johnson, has been reporting on the details of the truce. What is established so far is limited: fighting in Oleshky has halted, aid and evacuation are the stated aims, and Friday is the date given for the evacuation.
What remains open is considerable. The routes have been described as possible rather than confirmed, and the residents' hesitancy suggests that trust in the arrangement is thin. Whether people will board evacuation transport at all, and where it would take them, will shape whether the truce delivers what it promises.
The thing to watch is Friday. If aid reaches Oleshky and the evacuation proceeds, the routes chosen will show how much of the plan residents were right to question.
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War & Conflict