Trump's five-day Oleshky truce begins as missiles strike Kyiv

Up to 2,000 residents remain trapped in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, facing dwindling supplies of food and medicine. The localized ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia took effect at 3 a.m. Tuesday to facilitate a humanitarian mission into the Kherson region. This pause in fighting is scheduled to last through Saturday, providing a limited window for the aid operation.

U.S. First Lady Melania Trump led the negotiations with civilian representatives from both nations. Her office stated that she met with U.N. officials to review the situation before engaging in talks. The aid mission is a precursor to a new round of U.S.-brokered negotiations expected next month. These discussions aim to end a war that has lasted more than four and a half years.

Russian and Ukrainian negotiators confirmed the start of the truce in separate statements. Both nations' militaries also verified the pause in local combat. The arrangement faces challenges due to deep mistrust between the two sides, which has undermined previous ceasefire attempts. Negotiators indicated that doctors, medicines, food, and water will be delivered before evacuation corridors are opened for the stranded population.

Fighting continued elsewhere as the truce began. Minutes after 3 a.m. Tuesday, ballistic missile explosions shook Kyiv, triggering air alerts across the country. Late Monday, Russian missiles damaged the grounds of a university in the capital, killing one person and injuring 10, according to city officials. In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, attacks late Monday resulted in two deaths and four injuries.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the strikes with an online post. "It is important that the world sees that Russia is showing nothing but a desire to kill and continue waging war," he wrote. The capital faced renewed pressure while the local truce held in the south.

Oleshky is located in the partially occupied Kherson region, approximately 550 kilometers southeast of Kyiv. The Dnipro River separates Russian and Ukrainian forces in this area. Russian troops captured the town on the first day of their full-scale invasion in 2022. In June 2023, a dam collapse flooded the town, compounding the crisis for residents who have been unable to leave due to explosive mines and drone attacks.

The town sits directly across the river from Kherson, the region's administrative capital. Russian forces held Kherson during the early stages of the 2022 invasion but retreated across the river several months later. The current aid mission operates in this specific zone where the two armies face each other along the waterway.