Melania Trump brokers brief pause in fighting for Oleshky aid run

A local ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine began at 3 a.m. Tuesday. The pause in fighting was arranged to facilitate a humanitarian mission to Oleshky, a town in southern Ukraine. The arrangement was brokered by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump.

Trump led discussions with civilian negotiators from both nations. These talks followed briefings she received from United Nations officials regarding the conditions in Oleshky. Both Russian and Ukrainian military commands confirmed the start of the truce in separate statements.

The ceasefire is scheduled to last until Saturday, though negotiators noted it could be extended. Deep mistrust between the two sides has complicated previous attempts to stop the fighting. The goal is to deliver essential supplies to the town before evacuation corridors are opened.

Aid workers plan to bring doctors, medicines, food, and water to Oleshky. Up to 2,000 people remain stranded in the town. According to the U.N., residents are trapped by explosive mines and drone attacks. Food and medicine supplies in the area are running low.

The local truce comes just days before a new round of U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine. These negotiations are expected to begin next month. The discussions aim to end the war, which has continued for more than four and a half years.

Oleshky is located in the partially occupied Kherson region. It sits about 550 kilometers southeast of Kyiv. The Dnipro River separates the town from Kherson, the regional administrative capital. Russian forces captured Oleshky on the first day of their 2022 invasion. In June 2023, floodwaters from a collapsed dam further damaged the town.

While the local pause held in the south, missile attacks continued elsewhere. Minutes after the ceasefire began, ballistic missile explosions shook Kyiv. Air alerts sounded across multiple parts of the country. Late Monday, Russian missiles damaged the grounds of a university in the capital. City officials said one person was killed and 10 were injured in that attack. In Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, authorities reported that late Monday strikes killed two people and injured four. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted online that Russia was showing a desire to kill and continue waging war.