In the occupied city of Oleshky, in Ukraine's Kherson region, a local truce brokered by the United States has held for thirty hours without a reported incident, long enough for both sides' ombudsmen to stand on the ground together and for sappers to begin clearing a route. What matters is the roughly 2,000 people still inside, who face shortages of food and medicine and, by some accounts, have been reduced to eating weeds. Whether this small pause becomes a passage for aid and escape will show whether such quiet can grow into something larger, at a time when the broader talks that might have c
Oleshky Truce Holds for Second Day as Demining Opens Path for Humanitarian Aid
An estimated 2,000 civilians remain stranded in Oleshky with food and medical shortages, and reports say many are starving and eating weeds.
Thirty hours in, neither side had reported a single incident.
Mark
Why does a 30-hour ceasefire in one small city deserve attention?
Mimi
Because of the people inside. About 2,000 remain in Oleshky, short of food and medicine, with reports of people eating weeds. The quiet is only useful if it gets aid in and lets people out.
Mark
What's unusual about how this truce is being guaranteed?
Mimi
Both ombudsmen, Ukraine's Lubinets and Russia's Lantratova, are to be physically present on the ground. And they issued nearly identical statements that no incidents had occurred.
Luke
Worth noting that's two officials from the warring sides each reporting no incidents. There's no independent monitor mentioned in what we have.
Mark
And the starvation reports?
Mimi
They're described as reports, alongside the estimate of 2,000 residents.
Luke
Right. The 2,000 is an estimate, and the starvation claim is attributed, not verified here. I'd hold both as the best available picture, not settled fact.
Mark
Demining is under way. Does that mean aid is arriving?
Mimi
Not yet. Lubinets called demining a crucial step toward delivery and evacuation. Delivery itself hasn't been reported.
Luke
Exactly. Zelenskyy said it would be a huge success if the evacuation goes ahead as planned. That's a condition, not an outcome.
Mark
And the broader talks?
Mimi
Ushakov tied the timing to the Middle East, while Zelenskyy hopes for Abu Dhabi between 6 and 10 November.
Luke
Ushakov even called it his assumption. No date has been proposed by Moscow, so that meeting is unconfirmed.
O Pulso
- Thirty hours of silence in Oleshky is a fragile first success, and both sides' ombudsmen are standing on the ground to hold it together.
- Roughly 2,000 people remain trapped with failing food and medical supplies, and reports of starvation are pressing hard on everyone involved.
- Crews are clearing mines along the route so that aid trucks and civilians who want to leave can actually move through.
- The Hague pledges and Kherson's quiet streets offer some relief, but the next round of three-way talks now hangs in doubt amid Middle East tensions.
- The truce will be judged by whether demining finishes and evacuations really begin; if they stall, the calm will have bought little.
In the occupied city of Oleshky, in Ukraine's Kherson region, a local truce brokered by the United States has held for thirty hours without a reported incident, long enough for both sides' ombudsmen to stand on the ground together and for sappers to begin clearing a route. What matters is the roughly 2,000 people still inside, who face shortages of food and medicine and, by some accounts, have been reduced to eating weeds. Whether this small pause becomes a passage for aid and escape will show whether such quiet can grow into something larger, at a time when the broader talks that might have carried it further have grown uncertain.
For thirty hours, the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, in Ukraine's Kherson region, has been quiet. A local ceasefire brokered by the United States took effect early on Tuesday, and on Wednesday both countries' human rights ombudsmen said they had recorded no incidents. Ukraine's Dmytro Lubinets and Russia's Yana Lantratova gave almost identical statements, and both are physically present on the ground, which is how the truce is meant to be guaranteed.
What gives the pause its weight is who remains in the city. An estimated 2,000 people are still there, short of food and medicine, and there are reports that many are starving and eating weeds. Lubinets said demining of the route had begun, a necessary step before aid can be delivered safely and before civilians who wish to leave can do so.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaking in The Hague, noted that Kherson, the regional capital, had seen no major attacks since the truce began, and that people could be seen in the streets again. He said the truce would be a real success if the evacuation went ahead as planned.
The wider diplomacy is less settled. Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov tied the timing of the next three-way talks to the Middle East conflict, casting doubt on a meeting next month, and Moscow has not proposed a date. Zelenskyy said he hoped for talks in Abu Dhabi between 6 and 10 November.
For now, everything depends on Oleshky. If the route is cleared and aid and evacuations proceed, the truce will have delivered what Zelenskyy promised. If they stall, the quiet will have done little for those still waiting inside.
Thirty hours into a local ceasefire around the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, in Ukraine's Kherson region, neither side had reported a single incident. Both countries' human rights ombudsmen said so on Wednesday, in statements that were almost identical in wording. Ukraine's Dmytro Lubinets said no incident had occurred in that time, and Russia's Yana Lantratova said the same.
The truce, brokered by the United States, took effect early on Tuesday morning. It matters because of who is still inside the city. An estimated 2,000 people remain in Oleshky, living with shortages of food and medical supplies. There are reports that many of them are starving and eating weeds.
The arrangement rests on people as much as on paper. Lubinets's office said the ceasefire would be guaranteed by the physical presence on the ground of both ombudsmen, one Ukrainian and one Russian. Lubinets also said on social media that demining of the route was under way. He called it a crucial step toward safely delivering humanitarian aid and allowing civilians who wish to leave the city to do so.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke to reporters in The Hague and said that since the ceasefire began there had been no massive attacks on Kherson, the regional capital, where about 280,000 people lived before Russia's full-scale invasion. Even a few days of quiet, he said, are welcome, and people can be seen out in the streets. He said the truce would be a huge success if the evacuation of Oleshky's residents went ahead as planned.
The wider diplomacy looks less settled. Yuri Ushakov, a Kremlin foreign policy aide quoted by Russian news agencies, said the timing of the next round of three-way talks on a settlement is tied to the conflict in the Middle East. That casts doubt on whether they will happen next month as first proposed. Ushakov said Moscow had not yet suggested a specific date. The talks would also depend on the battlefield and the general situation, he said, adding that the Middle East situation does not allow a meeting in the near future, though he called that his assumption. Zelenskyy said he hoped a meeting would take place in Abu Dhabi between 6 and 10 November.
Elsewhere, Vladimir Putin, speaking at a summit with African leaders in Moscow, praised Elon Musk as a genius and said he was in touch with Starlink's controlling shareholder. He was comparing Musk's SpaceX satellite network with Russia's gradual effort to build its own military communications constellation, called Rassvet. Tass quoted him calling Musk a true genius.
The Netherlands pledged more support. After meeting Zelenskyy in The Hague, Dutch prime minister Rob Jetten said his country would provide €500m in military support this winter, to be used for drones and other material to strengthen Ukraine's defences. Earlier that day, the Dutch government announced €1.2bn in non-military support for Kyiv over the next three years. Part of that money would go to funds backing Dutch companies willing to invest in rebuilding Ukraine.
On the economic front, Reuters, citing seven industry sources, reported that Russian authorities have issued permits allowing grain-carrying export vessels to leave the Sea of Azov. It is the first such permission since 10 July, when Russia closed maritime traffic in the area because of Ukrainian drone attacks. The permits cover passage through the Kerch Strait, which links the Azov and Black Seas, until 15 November.
For now, the test is in Oleshky. If demining finishes and aid and evacuations proceed as planned, the truce will have delivered what Zelenskyy described. If they stall, the quiet will have bought little for the roughly 2,000 people still there.
Citações Notáveis
30 hours of the ceasefire in Oleshky have passed without a single incident.— Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman
The truce would be a huge success if the evacuation of Oleshky's citizens went ahead as planned.— Volodymyr Zelenskyy
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