UKRAINE, KHERSON OBLAST, Oct. 23 — Melania Trump, the First Lady of the US, reached an agreement on a temporary ceasefire in the Russian-occupied Oleshky, a city in the Kherson oblast, the White House reported.

Oleshky is separated from Kherson, the administrative center currently under Ukrainian military control, by the Dnipro River. In 2022, the Russians blew up the bridge connecting the two cities, Valentyna Ponomariova, a journalist for the Kherson-based local media outlet Vhoru, told Gwara Media. Citing local authorities and volunteers Vgoru keeps in contact with, she said that the roads to Oleshky are heavily mined.

As of early October, about 2,000 people remain in Oleshky, including 35 children. For a long time now, there has been no electricity or water, nor adequate medical care or medicine. The last food delivery was at the end of May.

According to Melania Trump, the ceasefire will begin on Oct. 29, allowing humanitarian aid to enter Oleshky and to prepare a civilian evacuation from there. She and American officials worked directly with the Russian and Ukrainian governments.

Under that agreement, representatives of civilians from both sites need to identify local needs and organize the evacuation of those who wish to leave.

“There are a lot of questions about the statement of a temporary ceasefire. Who’ll ensure the ceasefire is being followed? How long will it take to clear the mines to access Oleshky? How will representatives of the Ukrainian government, humanitarian organizations, or evacuation groups be able to enter the city? And, finally, will Russia use the pause for its own military goals?” Ponomariova told us. “We want to believe all these steps were agreed upon, because (Melania’s) statement doesn’t provide them.” 

Ponomariova adds that another question they’re asking themselves is why Russia didn’t do it earlier. Back in June of this year, Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s ombudsman, said he discussed the evacuation from Oleshky with Russian ombudsman Yana Lantratova. 

“A month ago, occupation authorities basically denied the severity of the issue in Oleshky. Volodymyr Saldo (Moscow-installed governor of the Russian-occupied part of the Kherson region) claimed that the situation is ‘under control’,” Ponomariova said. “Now, when the information about the humanitarian crisis went public on an international level, the Russian side started to talk about issues in Oleshky often, at the same time shifting the responsibility for them onto Ukraine.” 

Journalists note that Russia has violated the ceasefire agreements multiple times since 2022. “We wait for October 29th with hope.” 

Trump also added that an independent American media organization will document the Oleshky unblocking process and monitor how the agreements will work. It is unknown which media he meant. 

David Arakhamia, head of Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People faction in the Verkhovna Rada, confirmed that the operation to unblock Oleshky will begin soon.

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