Oleshky / Moscow / Kyiv, 27 October. The Russian army stopped firing and introduced a "regime of silence" on the Kherson axis from 04:00 Moscow time on 27 October to prepare a humanitarian operation in the Oleshky area, the Russian Defence Ministry said; the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reminded that Ukraine would also cease fire in the area from 03:00 Kyiv time.
The ceasefire, the Ukrainian General Staff stressed, applies solely to the humanitarian operation: delivering aid to residents still in the town and preparing for civilians to leave freely.
Oleshky is a town on the left bank of the Dnipro in the Kherson region controlled by Russia; the residents who remain there are, according to Anadolu, mostly elderly people short of food, water and medicine. The local truce was agreed through the mediation of US First Lady Melania Trump: it is meant to allow food and medicine to be delivered and those who wish to leave to be taken out, to either Russian-controlled or Ukrainian-controlled territory.
The sides give different dates for the operation itself. Ukraine's parliamentary human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets confirmed that the humanitarian operation and ceasefire will take place on 29 October, the date the White House had also given. The Russian military speak of a ceasefire from 27 October "in connection with preparations" for the operation: according to them, the army will conduct engineering reconnaissance and ensure safe passage for the aid convoy. Ukraine's General Staff urged people to rely only on official sources and not to spread rumours about the routes, times and places of movement of people and aid convoys.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the evacuation could take several days and that the ceasefire in Oleshky could set a precedent for other sectors where a humanitarian pause is needed. "We would like to hope that the Ukrainian side will fulfil all the agreements reached with the direct participation of American negotiators from Melania Trump," he said. Russia's human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova stressed that the evacuation must be strictly voluntary.
What it means: The pause in fire near Oleshky that the sides agreed a week ago began at the appointed hour; the delivery of aid and the evacuation itself, judging by the Ukrainian ombudsman's statements, will start later, on 29 October.
What happens next: The humanitarian operation itself, delivering food and medicine and taking out those who wish to leave, is expected by the Ukrainian ombudsman on 29 October; according to Dmitry Peskov, the evacuation may take several days and must be strictly voluntary. If the pause holds, the Kremlin suggests it could serve as a model for similar humanitarian pauses on other sections of the front.
Background: The operation was negotiated by the two countries' ombudsmen, Dmytro Lubinets and Yana Lantratova, who held an online meeting on it; on 24 October Lantratova said both sides were meeting their commitments.
We have also reported that Lantratova said Russia and Ukraine were honouring the Oleshky agreements.
