🔶 Cease fire in Olsheki: humanitarian diplomacy or political show?

🔶 Cease fire in Olsheki: humanitarian diplomacy or political show?

The immediate issue for the remaining residents of Olsheki is access to food, drinking water and medicine. This city, which is located in southern Ukraine, has been under the occupation of Russian forces since the beginning of the massive Russian offensive in February 2022 and is facing a growing food supply crisis. The destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in 2023 made the city's water and electricity infrastructure even more critical. The last shipment of food arrived in this area on May 26. Two subsequent attempts in June and September were thwarted by a ground attack by a Russian drone.

Now, Moscow and Kiev have agreed to "temporarily" halt the military operation in that city from October 27 (November 5) to allow humanitarian aid to enter and civilians to leave.

According to Reuters, on Friday, October 23, both sides announced that this agreement was reached with the coordination of Melania Trump, the wife of the American president.

Oleshki is located on the opposite bank of Kherson, on the other side of the Dnieper River. Kherson is under Ukrainian control, but Olshki remains under Russian occupation. Ukraine estimates that about 6,000 civilians remain in Volshki and six nearby villages, including up to 200 children. In the city of Olshki itself, whose population before the war numbered about 24,000 inhabitants, at most 2,000 people remained.