Zelenskyy Pins Hopes on US Mediation to Open Access to Besieged Oleshky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hopes American mediation will succeed in opening access to Oleshky, a town in Kherson Oblast under Russian occupation, while warning that conditions there remain extremely difficult.

Speaking in a video address, Zelenskyy said an arrangement concerning Oleshky should be put into effect soon. According to him, Russian forces have mined the roads in the temporarily occupied part of the Kherson region. "The situation is dire, extremely dire," he said.

Kyiv wants a humanitarian operation to go ahead that would restore access to the town, deliver food and medicine, and let residents leave the combat zone.

Zelenskyy said the talks have been going on for some time and at various levels. "Ukraine will do its part. We count on American mediation to work," he noted.

The general staffs of Ukraine and Russia announced on Friday evening that a ceasefire would take effect in a designated area from the night of 27 October. The pause is intended to allow the humanitarian operation in Oleshky to be carried out.

The White House issued a statement saying that US First Lady Melania Trump had secured a truce between Russia and Ukraine in Oleshky, where it described a humanitarian disaster as currently unfolding.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russia had agreed to a ceasefire so that a humanitarian mission could proceed in the town.

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights, said the humanitarian operation in Oleshky will take place on 29 October, with a ceasefire in force.