Ceasefire extended across Ukraine's Kherson region, with Oleshky evacuation planned for Friday

A ceasefire that began with the aim of getting food and medicine to the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky has been extended across the wider southern region of Kherson. No breaches of the truce, which began early on Tuesday, have so far been reported. Several thousand residents are trapped in Oleshky with no access to food, water and electricity; on one side is the Dnipro river, Russian forces are on the other, and all the roads out are too dangerous.

US First Lady Melania Trump, who helped broker the ceasefire along with Pope Leo, said on Tuesday that the area involved had been expanded beyond Oleshky, within the Kherson region, to provide "safe passage" for humanitarian convoys. She made the announcement on X.

That was corroborated by the press secretary to Ukraine's public ombudsman. Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, deputy head of Kherson, said Russian shelling had stopped both in Kherson city, which is in Ukrainian hands, and across the wider region.

Under the deal, the ceasefire will be followed by deliveries of humanitarian aid to Oleshky and then evacuations, planned for Friday, for anyone wishing to leave. An estimated 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in Oleshky itself, and a few thousand more in surrounding areas.

Before the war Oleshky was home to 24,000 people, but it was seized by Russia during the first days of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. No shops are open, and the city has had no electricity, gas or water since the Kakhovka Dam was blown up in 2023, flooding the area and killing many people in Oleshky itself.

Many residents have resorted to cooking garden weeds to survive, telling the BBC they are suffering extreme hunger and want to leave. Getting supplies into the city is extremely difficult, and escaping is too risky because the routes out of Oleshky have been mined and are subject to drone attack.

One woman told the BBC she had stepped on a landmine and was currently in hospital, where she had undergone two operations. "I don't know how long I will have to spend there," she said, worried about not being able to join the evacuation.

Both sides said the ceasefire was being observed. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said everything was proceeding "according to plan", and paid tribute to US mediation and in particular the representatives of Melania Trump. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that if the ceasefire produced results, it could lead to other steps in the peace process.

A key official in President Volodymyr Zelensky's parliamentary party, David Arakhamia, said the truce would continue until 22:59 Ukrainian time on Sunday 1 November, and described it as the "largest de-escalation since 2022".

Pope Leo appealed earlier this month to Russia's President Vladimir Putin to allow food and medical aid into Oleshky as well as a safe evacuation, and urged President Zelensky to co-operate with Moscow over a ceasefire. The White House then said last week that Melania Trump had secured a ceasefire.

The current truce is intended to allow roads to be cleared of mines so supplies can get into the city possibly on Thursday. Russia's defence ministry said units from the army's Dnepr group had been conducting "engineering reconnaissance" and clearing the main access roads into the town of explosive and booby-trap devices. A local volunteer told the BBC that about 500 people had already expressed interest in leaving by Tuesday afternoon.

Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed head of the occupied areas of Kherson, said temporary accommodation had been prepared in the region itself, as well as in Russian-annexed Crimea and across the Russian border in the Rostov, Krasnodar and Stavropol regions. He told Russian media that most Oleshky residents wanted to leave the city and stay in Russia, although his account has not been corroborated on the ground.

Zelensky has warned that the routes out of Oleshky demined by Russia will ensure that civilians leaving the city will "head towards Russia and stay there". He said some residents would get to Ukrainian-controlled territory "one way or another", and that anyone trapped should be able to reach their destination and evacuate to Ukraine.

Some residents and relatives who have spoken to the BBC have expressed fears that Russia may not allow them to return to Ukraine, or might examine their phones and online activity for signs of Ukrainian support, which could put them in danger. Contact with people in the city is patchy, and many are reluctant to speak about the situation for fear of reprisals from the Russians.

One resident, Serhii, who fled Oleshky through minefields around three weeks ago, eventually returned to Ukraine via Russia and Belarus. He called for a route across the River Dnipro that avoided Russian-occupied territory, saying "you simply cannot trust the Russian Federation". However, the bridges across the Dnipro have been destroyed and sources say the riverbank is also mined and dangerous, so crossing into Ukrainian-controlled territory is not possible.

Across the river in Kherson city, no explosions have been heard and no drone-related injuries reported since 03:00 on Tuesday, according to local reports, and cars and pedestrians have been moving freely. "Judging from the fact that more people are walking around, it feels a bit calmer," Galina Kyrychenko, a resident of the city, told public broadcaster Suspilne. Ukraine's military general staff urged people not to trust unverified reports or spread rumours about the routes, time and place of the movement of people and humanitarian convoys.