Ceasefire in devastated Ukrainian city holds for first 30 hours, officials say

People board a bus during a local ceasefire linked to efforts to evacuate residents of Oleshky in Ukraine (Evgeniy Maloletka/AP)

A six-day ceasefire in a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine has held for its first day and night, officials said on Wednesday, but Moscow and Kyiv continued to batter each other elsewhere.

The localised truce in the devastated southern city of Oleshky began on Tuesday and is due to last through to Sunday as a planned humanitarian operation races to get its about 2,000 remaining residents urgently needed food and medicine, as well as evacuate those who want to leave.

If the ceasefire holds, it will be the first time since Russia’s invasion of its neighbour more than four years ago that the two sides have observed a significant truce. Previous attempts to stop the fighting have either failed to take hold or quickly unravelled.

The development coincided with US-led plans to bring Moscow and Kyiv officials back to the table next month for technical talks on how to move forward on ending the war, even though neither side shows signs of backing down from their key demands.

Ombudsmen from both Russia and Ukraine said on Wednesday there had been no ceasefire violations in Oleshky for 30 hours.

The plight of the city in Ukraine’s southern region of Kherson caught the attention of US first lady Melania Trump, and the White House said she brokered the humanitarian mission.

Pope Leo XIV also spoke this month with presidents Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin of Russia, urging them to allow humanitarian aid into Oleshky and the safe evacuation of civilians, the Vatican said.

Mr Zelensky said he was grateful to the US first lady for her role in halting the fighting in and around Oleshky.

“We are grateful that they are organising this possibility to evacuate people,” Mr Zelensky said, adding that Ukraine was ready to receive evacuees from the town.

Both sides are eager to win US President Donald Trump’s approval as he pushes for an elusive peace settlement.

A Russian drone strike on the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv overnight wounded five people, including a four-year-old child, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said.

The jet-powered drone attack started a major fire that set alight an apartment building, private house and an industrial building, the emergency services said.

In Russia, meanwhile, the defence ministry said that air defences downed 531 Ukrainian drones from late Tuesday through to early Wednesday.

Officials said apartment buildings and industrial infrastructure in two regions were targeted, injuring five people.