Russia, Ukraine begin Oleshky ceasefire but keep up strikes elsewhere

Russia and Ukraine have begun a regional ceasefire to allow the start of a humanitarian effort in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, both sides said on Tuesday, but they continue strikes elsewhere, including the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

The ceasefire should enable deliveries of aid as well as evacuations from the frontline town in southern Ukraine that is grappling with acute shortages of food and medicine.

“As head of the Ukrainian negotiating team, I confirm that the Ukrainian side is honouring its commitments,” Dmytro Lubinets, the parliamentary commissioner for human rights, said in a Facebook post confirming Russia’s timing of its halt.

On Telegram, Russia’s defence ministry said it stopped shelling in the direction of Ukraine’s city of Kherson from 4 am Moscow time (0100 GMT), to prepare for the effort in Oleshky, which faces Kherson across the Dnipro River.

Lubinets added that the deal was reached in coordination with US First Lady Melania Trump in cooperation with Russia’s commissioner for human rights, Yana Lantratova.

New strikes on Tuesday hit the Southern Bridge and subway infrastructure in Kyiv, forcing a suspension of traffic, city officials said, while a Reuters witness heard explosions.

Oleshky lies on the eastern bank of the Dnipro in Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson, opposite the city of Kherson, which is held by Ukrainian forces.

But Russian troops have controlled the town since seizing it during the first days of their February 2022 invasion.

White House envoys have talked to both sides in recent days to try and find a solution as the US looks to mediate a peace deal to end the war, Europe’s deadliest conflict since the World War Two.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said peace negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the US had agreed to meet at a technical level in the first half of November in Abu Dhabi to continue the talks.

A Russian missile attack on Kyiv killed at least one and injured 15, including students in a dormitory, since Monday evening. The attacks also killed and injured people in the cities of Kharkiv and Pavlohrad.

On the Telegram messaging app, the Russian defence ministry said it has hit transport infrastructure in Kyiv, a logistics hub in the Kharkiv region as well as industrial facilities and cargo vessels elsewhere it cited as being put to military use.

A drone attack killed a man and wounded six people in the western Russian city of Bryansk close to the border with Ukraine.

Another person was killed and 30 injured as a drone hit a bus in the Russian-controlled part of Ukraine’s southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia, local officials said.

Reuters could not immediately independently verify the reports. Russia and Ukraine deny deliberately targeting civilians.

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