Oleshky Ceasefire Holds as Aid and Evacuation Preparations Continue

A ceasefire around Oleshky in Ukraine’s Kherson region held through its first 30 hours without reported incidents, Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said, as preparations continued for a humanitarian operation to deliver aid and evacuate civilians. The truce took effect on October 27, earlier than initially scheduled. Ukraine’s General Staff and Russia’s Defense Ministry each announced that their forces were observing a ceasefire in the designated area. Melania Trump said the ceasefire zone had expanded beyond Oleshky within Kherson region to provide safe passage for humanitarian convoys. Lubinets said there had been no completed evacuations or aid deliveries in his update. The operation is expected to require mine clearance on access roads before supplies and civilians can move safely. Myroslava Kharchenko, a lawyer with Save Ukraine, said mine-clearing on a road began at about 8 a.m. on October 27. She said her organization did not know whether evacuation efforts had started. The route, timing and final number of evacuees have not been confirmed publicly. Kharchenko said organizers were verifying details with people who had previously requested evacuation and collecting...