Ukraine war briefing: Oleshky truce holding and demining under way to enable humanitarian corridor, Kyiv says

A local ceasefire in southern Ukraine was holding for a second day, both sides said on Wednesday, as hopes grew that vital aid would be able to reach stranded residents. An estimated 2,000 people remain in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in the Kherson region amid food and medical shortages and reports many people are now starving and eating weeds. The human rights ombudsmen of both Russia and Ukraine said on Wednesday the US-brokered truce – which came into effect early on Tuesday morning – was still holding. “30 hours of the ceasefire in Oleshky have passed without a single incident,” Ukraine’s Dmytro Lubinets said. “No incidents have been recorded in the 30 hours of the ceasefire in Oleshky,” Russia’s Yana Lantratova said in a similarly worded statement. The ceasefire would be guaranteed by “the physical presence of both ombudsmen: Ukrainian and Russian” on the ground, Lubinets’s office said. Route demining was “currently under way”, Lubinets said on social media, describing it as “crucial step toward ensuring the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and enabling civilians who wish to leave the city”.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that since the ceasefire came into force, there had been “no massive attacks” on the regional capital of Kherson, where about 280,000 people lived before Russia’s invasion. “We’re happy even when we have two, three days for these people. You know, some ceasefire is great, you can see them in the streets,” the Ukrainian president told reporters in The Hague. The truce would be a “huge success” if the evacuation of Oleshky’s citizens went ahead as planned, he said.

The timing of the next round of three-way ⁠talks on a settlement of the Ukraine conflict is linked to the conflict in the Middle East, a Kremlin foreign policy aide has said, casting doubt on whether the talks will take place next month as initially proposed. Yuri Ushakov, quoted by Russian news ⁠agencies, said Moscow had not yet proposed a specific date for the talks. “It will ​also depend on the situation ‌on the battlefield and the ‌situation in general. You can see the situation now in the Middle East. It ‌just doesn’t allow us to hold it in the near future. That’s my assumption,” he told journalists on Wednesday. Zelenskyy said on Wednesday he hoped a meeting would take place in Abu Dhabi between 6 and 10 November.

Vladimir Putin praised Elon Musk’s “genius” and said he was in touch with Starlink’s controlling shareholder as Russia develops its own satellite communications for its military to use against Ukraine, reports Dan Sabbagh. The Russian president, speaking at a summit with African leaders in Moscow, was comparing the Earth-orbiting network built by Musk’s SpaceX with Russia’s gradual efforts to build its own Rassvet constellation. “Elon Musk is a genius, a true genius,” the Tass news agency quoted the Russian leader as saying.

The Netherlands will supply Ukraine with €500m ($557m/£$418m) ⁠in military support ⁠this ​winter, the Dutch prime minister said. The support ⁠would be used to supply drones and other material to ⁠strengthen Ukraine’s defence, Rob Jetten said ​after meeting Zelenskyy in The Hague. Earlier on ‌Wednesday, the Dutch government announced it would give Kyiv €1.2bn in non-military support in the next three years. Part of the money would be used for funds that supported ⁠Dutch companies willing to invest in the ​rebuilding ​of Ukraine.

Russian authorities have issued permits for ⁠vessels carrying grain for export to leave the Sea of Azov for the first time since 10 July, ⁠when they closed maritime ⁠traffic ​in the area due to Ukrainian drone attacks, Reuters quoted seven industry sources as saying. They said permits to pass ⁠through the Kerch Strait, which links the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, would be issued for the period ⁠to 15 November.