Kherson Truce: First Lady Trump signs deal for Oleshky

A localized ceasefire took hold in Oleshky, Ukraine, at 4 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday, October 28.

The truce was brokered by First Lady Melania Trump, who served as the exclusive intermediary between Moscow and Kyiv for the deal. The agreement, signed on October 23 by Russian human rights commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova and Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets, facilitates the delivery of food, water, and medical supplies to the city. It also establishes safe passage for residents wishing to leave. The signing ceremony took place in Belarus, where officials met early Friday morning to finalize terms.

Oleshky, located across the Dnipro River from the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson, has seen its population drop from roughly 24,000 in 2022 to approximately 2,000. Many of the remaining residents are elderly. The city serves as a Russian military base for attacks on Kherson, while Ukrainian forces target Russian positions in the area. Roads are mined and basic services have largely collapsed, according to local officials.

Melania Trump began her diplomatic efforts after the humanitarian crisis in Oleshky was raised at a United Nations event in September. Her team had previously coordinated six exchanges of Ukrainian and Russian children, which built the trust necessary for the current negotiations. Marc Beckman, a senior adviser to the First Lady, stated that both President Vladimir Putin and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were involved in the talks. The U.S. negotiating team was small, with the First Lady handling the direct communications.

The agreement is strictly limited to humanitarian operations in and around Oleshky. Fighting continues elsewhere along the sprawling front in Ukraine. The deal specifies the type of military equipment that may enter the zone and details the logistics for evacuating civilians. Negotiators also arranged for refrigerated trucks to recover bodies expected to be found during the operation. The plan was mapped out by the hour, with officials continuing to negotiate until 7:40 a.m. on Friday to finalize the documents.

The humanitarian mission is expected to last about one week, with operations concluding in early November. Russian General Valery Gerasimov confirmed that Russian forces would cease fire along the Kherson axis to allow civilian convoys to move safely. Four journalists from Newsmax will accompany the mission to document the evacuation process. The agreement also outlines a plan for monthly humanitarian aid deliveries and repatriation efforts in the wider Kherson region, coordinated with the First Lady.

Yuri Sobolevsky, deputy chairman of the Kherson regional council, described the situation in Oleshky as "hell" and stated that people need to be evacuated. The two sides moved the start of the ceasefire up by two days from its original date to accommodate the rapid timeline. The documents obtained by Fox News Digital confirm that the ceasefire is a temporary measure designed to allow aid workers access to a city on an active front line.