Melania Trump's Oleshky Truce Begins as Missiles Hit Kyiv

A localized ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia took effect at 3 a.m. Tuesday morning. The pause in fighting is designed to allow a humanitarian mission into the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky later this week. Both sides confirmed the start of the truce in separate statements.

U.S. First Lady Melania Trump brokered the arrangement. Her office said she led talks with civilian negotiators from both nations after a briefing from U.N. officials. The aid mission is scheduled ahead of new U.S.-brokered talks expected next month. Those discussions aim to end the war that has lasted more than four and a half years.

Up to 2,000 residents remain stranded in Oleshky. The U.N. reports they are trapped by explosive mines and drone attacks, with food and medicine running low. Negotiators said the mission will bring doctors, medicines, food, and water to the town. Evacuation corridors are planned to open after the supplies arrive.

The local ceasefire is set to last through Saturday, though it could be extended. Deep mistrust between the two armies has caused previous ceasefires to collapse. Oleshky sits in the partially occupied Kherson region, about 550 kilometers southeast of Kyiv. Russian forces captured the town on the first day of their full-scale invasion in 2022. Floodwaters from a dam collapse further damaged the area in June 2023.

Fighting continued in other parts of the country during the pause. Minutes after the truce began, multiple ballistic missile explosions shook Kyiv. Air alerts sounded across several regions. Late Monday, Russian ballistic missiles damaged the grounds of a university in the capital. City officials said one person was killed and 10 were injured in that strike.

Attacks also hit Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city. Authorities reported that strikes late Monday killed two people and injured four. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted online shortly after the Kyiv explosion. He wrote that the world must see Russia showing a desire to kill and continue waging war.