Russia, Ukraine agree to Oleshky ceasefire brokered by Melania Trump, White House says

JUST IN: Melania Trump has brokered a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky, set to begin October 29 to allow humanitarian aid and civilian evacuation, the White House says.

Melania Trump has brokered a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the occupied city of Oleshky.

The White House says both sides agreed to halt all military action there from October 29, to let humanitarian aid in and prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe corridor. You can see the first lady here, and the statement says she and her representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to set the terms.

Oleshky sits across the Dnipro River from Kherson, occupied since February 2022. Before the war it held roughly 24,000 people. Today it is down to fewer than two thousand, mostly elderly residents and about fifty children, in a town that was ninety percent flooded when the Kakhovka Dam was destroyed. Residents report a deepening food crisis.

Evacuees will be able to choose whether they go to Russia or to Ukraine. It is one city, one pause, in a war that has not stopped anywhere else.

This is Liu Yang, reporting for HIT.