Aid mission set to enter Ukraine's Oleshky as localised ceasefire holds for third day

A Russian cruise missile struck the northern city of Chernihiv, killing two 15-year-old girls and damaging businesses, homes, and vehicles, local authorities announced. Emergency responders rushed to the scene to extinguish burning cars and combat flames and smoke pouring from damaged structures. Footage from the area showed rescuers transporting a victim to an ambulance and a body covered by a blanket amidst scattered debris. The local military administration identified the weapon used in the attack as a Banderol cruise missile, describing it as a relatively inexpensive, jet-powered system capable of loitering before engaging its target. The strike occurred against the backdrop of a fragile, localized ceasefire in southern Ukraine. A US-brokered truce around the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in the Kherson region entered its third day of relative calm on Thursday. Humanitarian aid convoys were poised to enter the stricken city, with Ukrainian and Russian human rights ombudsmen confirming that the pause in hostilities had held without incident. The cessation of fighting, which began around 3 a.m. local time on Tuesday, was mediated by US First Lady Melania Trump. Both Kyiv and Moscow credited her efforts in securing the agreement, which aims to deliver essential supplies and facilitate the evacuation of civilians. Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets stated that both parties were fully adhering to the agreements, noting that no violations had been reported. His Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, confirmed the truce was holding and detailed that Russian military engineers were actively clearing landmines from roads near Oleshky to prepare a safe passage for the humanitarian convoy. Lantratova indicated that she and her team were traveling to Oleshky to oversee the aid delivery, a process she described as taking five months to arrange. According to ORF News, the weapons pause is scheduled to last until Sunday, with potential for extension. The humanitarian crisis in Oleshky remains severe. Approximately 1,700 to 2,000 residents remain in the city, which had a pre-war population of roughly 24,000. Food, water, medicine, electricity, gas, and running water have been scarce for months. A volunteer from Oleshky, Ksenia Arkhipova, reported that approximately 1,000 residents have expressed a desire to leave. She emphasized the importance of the Ukrainian delegation’s presence in the city, citing fears among locals that Russian authorities might identify individuals with pro-Ukrainian sentiments or connections to the Ukrainian military. Officials stated that evacuees could choose to move to either Russia or Ukraine, though the specific logistics of these transfers remained unclear. Plans for evacuation include a humanitarian corridor potentially opening on Saturday. Reports indicate that residents leaving for Ukraine may be transported to the Russian Black Sea city of Anapa, flown to Gomel in Belarus, and subsequently transferred to Ukraine. Previously, leaving the city was considered life-threatening due to extensive minefields on the roads. In the nearby Ukrainian-held city of Kherson, citizens began returning to the streets as the truce held, offering a rare moment of normalcy after years of conflict. Despite the progress in Oleshky, violence continued elsewhere in Ukraine. On Thursday, a jet-powered Russian drone attacked two passenger trains stopped at a station in Dnipro, central Ukraine. Officials reported at least 14 deaths and 14 injuries, including a 40-year-old man who suffered leg amputations. Additionally, a Russian drone struck an apartment building in the central city of Kremenchuk, killing three civilians. Across the country, 56 people were injured in recent strikes, including ten children. The broader conflict continues to escalate in other domains. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed that air defense systems intercepted 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight, characterizing it as one of the largest drone attacks launched by Kyiv. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin stated that approximately half of these drones were targeted at the Russian capital. Meanwhile, skepticism persists regarding the durability of the Oleshky truce. Critics warn of potential Russian deception tactics, given that previous ceasefire attempts often collapsed quickly or failed to materialize. The current agreement represents a distinct shift, however, with direct involvement from high-level diplomatic figures including Pope Leo XIV, who urged for a truce via phone calls with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. US First Lady Melania Trump described Oleshky as a frontline war city on the brink of disaster, stating that without her intervention, bringing aid and evacuating the elderly would have been impossible. Her senior advisor, Marc Beckman, told Fox News that Trump negotiated the deal independently without support from the White House. The White House noted that non-military civilian leaders from both nations would collaborate to assess resident needs and coordinate transport to preferred destinations. As aid trucks approach the mined roads of Oleshky, the focus shifts to whether the logistical challenges of demining and cross-border transfer can be overcome within the strict timeframe of the temporary accord.