Russia and Ukraine Agree to Local Ceasefire in Oleshky as Humanitarian Crisis Deepens

The White House announced on Friday that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, where a worsening humanitarian crisis has left thousands of civilians struggling to survive. Under the arrangement, all military operations in the city will stop from 27 October so that aid can be delivered and preparations can be made to evacuate civilians.

Oleshky, in southern Ukraine, has been under Russian occupation since February 2022. Residents have described increasingly desperate conditions, with severe shortages of food, water and electricity. An estimated 2,000 people remain in the city, and some are reportedly surviving on weeds, boiled grass, bread and meagre rations. Russian and Ukrainian officials had both said earlier that a ceasefire was close.

The White House said the truce was brokered by first lady Melania Trump, whose representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leaders to set the terms. "Residents who wish to evacuate will receive coordinated support and transportation to their preferred destination. I anticipate some will want to go to Russia, and some to Ukraine," she said.

That account sits alongside a longer record of efforts to arrange a humanitarian pause. Ukrainian officials had claimed that Russia rejected earlier calls for one. Pope Leo XIV, who discussed the issue with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the United Nations, EU officials and the Council of Europe had all urged a ceasefire. As recently as 18 October, Ukraine's ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said he believed agreement was near, without mentioning any role for the first lady.

Ukraine has spent weeks pushing for a civilian evacuation from Oleshky and nearby settlements, at times using drones to airdrop emergency food and medical supplies into the town. Lubinets told Reuters on Friday that the mission would include demining the roads into the town, delivering food and evacuating civilians. "A sufficient quantity of humanitarian aid will be delivered to meet the needs of everyone who requires it," he said, adding that officials want the effort to go beyond a one-off event and beyond Oleshky alone.

Separately, Ukrainian forces continue to report widespread disruption to the Starlink satellite network, despite US president Donald Trump's claim that Elon Musk had lifted restrictions on the service. The slowdown began last week after Trump and Musk, the founder of Starlink, publicly criticised Zelenskyy over continued strikes on Russian oil refineries. Both have denied responsibility. Trump told reporters on Friday: "I've heard it was fixed, but if it's not, I'll speak to him." British prime minister Andy Burnham stressed to Trump in a phone call that Ukraine needs full access to Starlink, Downing Street said.

Ukrainian officials said speeds stayed capped at about 100mph throughout Friday. Serhii Beskrestnov, a military expert who advises Zelenskyy, said no lifting of the restrictions had been observed. The cap has stopped Ukrainian military equipment, including drones, from staying connected when moving at high speed, hampering offensive drone operations and efforts to intercept incoming Russian attacks.

The Starlink problem, together with Zelenskyy's complaints that Washington temporarily suspended intelligence-sharing with Kyiv, has pushed relations between Ukraine and the US to a new low. Tensions first flared when Washington lifted sanctions on Russia and began importing Russian diesel as Trump tried to lower US energy prices before the midterm elections. Russian deputy prime minister Alexander Novak said on Friday that three tankers were heading to the US and that Russian companies could supply 500,000 metric tonnes in October.

Russia also launched another overnight barrage on Ukraine, even as Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US are expected to resume in Abu Dhabi in November. Earlier rounds produced no breakthrough, and Moscow and Kyiv remain far apart. Russia's demands include a Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern territory it still holds, a drastic cut in the size of its military and neutral status that would rule out Nato membership. Late on Thursday, Putin told a Russian state television reporter that the lands lost by Kyiv "are not their territory, they are Russia's historical lands," and insisted Moscow would achieve all the objectives of its full-scale invasion.