Ukraine War – Oleschky: Ceasefire continues, evacuation is being prepared

A ceasefire has been in effect in the front-line town of Oleschky, which is occupied by Russian troops, since Tuesday - and according to statements from both sides, the agreement is holding. An evacuation from the southern Ukrainian front-line city is now being prepared: work on a safe aid corridor was running successfully, mines had been defused, as the Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian colleague Jana Lantratova announced at the same time.

This Saturday, people should be able to leave the city via a humanitarian aid corridor.

According to Lubinets, humanitarian aid shipments are being prepared in parallel and will be delivered to Oleshky on Friday. Accordingly, the representatives of both warring parties are coordinating closely. »The ceasefire has already lasted 54 hours. “Both sides are fulfilling their obligations,” Lantratova said. There are no violations.

Melania Trump and Pope Leo campaigned

Lubinez and Lantratova once again thanked US First Lady Melania Trump, who brokered the ceasefire. Pope Leo A famine catastrophe was looming in the city; Moscow and Kyiv had not been able to agree on an evacuation for a long time (you can read more about this here).

According to estimates, around 1,500 to 2,000 people still live in Oleschky, including dozens of children. Before the war there were 24,000 residents. Anyone who wants to stay in the city, which has been sealed off and completely undersupplied for months, should receive food deliveries and medicine.

There has never been such a large joint relief operation for the civilian population with a ceasefire lasting several days. The ceasefire is scheduled to last until Sunday evening. The warring parties had repeatedly implemented prisoner exchanges and also transferred the bodies of fallen soldiers.

However, Russian attacks continue elsewhere in Ukraine. The governor of the Dnipro region, Oleksandr Hanzha, wrote on Telegram this morning that 13 people had died in a Russian drone attack. At least five other people were injured. Apparently a passenger train was hit.