Humanitarian aid is set to reach starving Oleshky on Friday as Melania Trump's Ukraine ceasefire holds for a third day

Melania Trump, as residents of Oleshky reportedly surviving on weeds await the aid deliveries that demining of the planned evacuation route is now making possible.

Approximately 2,000 civilians trapped in Russian-occupied Oleshky — many of them starving and surviving on weeds — are due to receive their first humanitarian convoy on Friday, after demining of the evacuation corridor was completed. Melania Trump negotiated the local ceasefire last Friday through talks with both Moscow and Kyiv, and Ukraine's human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said there had been no violations in 30 hours. Pope Leo XIV had telephoned Putin a week earlier to press for the truce, only three days after undergoing lung cancer surgery.

Residents fear Russia will redirect evacuees to occupied Crimea or to Russia itself, rather than to Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Putin described Oleshky as "a Russian settlement" during a phone call on 27 October, despite the city remaining Ukrainian territory under international law.

The Ukrainian and Russian human rights ombudsmen are both on the ground in the city to help ensure the ceasefire holds.

The IndependentMelania Trump’s Ukraine ceasefire clings on as humanitarian aid arrives The GuardianUkraine war briefing: Oleshky truce holding and demining under way to enable humanitarian corridor, Kyiv says NewsweekUkraine and Russia Bombard Each Other As Melania Trump Ceasefire Holds APHumanitarian aid set to enter Oleshky as a rare Russia-Ukraine truce holds for a third day APAfter years under fire, a rare quiet settles over Ukrainian city as truce holds NYT WorldA Ukrainian City in the Kill Zone Relishes a Moment of Peace The TelegraphMelania Trump’s quest to be peacemaker in chief

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