Aid convoy ready to enter Russian-occupied Oleshky after mine clearance completed

Demining of routes into the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky has been completed and a humanitarian convoy stands ready to depart, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova announced in near-identical statements.

Footage aired by Russian state broadcaster Vesti showed Lubinets and Lantratova meeting briefly in Oleshky overnight into Friday. The clearance operation cost two lives, Lantratova confirmed. She added that both sides would fulfil their obligations in full.

Lantratova said dozens of tonnes of supplies are to be delivered to the city, including flour, grain, sugar, cooking oil, canned meat and fish, hygiene products, and fuel for emergency generators. The central hospital is also to receive medicines including antibiotics and insulin. Part of the supplies was assembled by the Russian ombudsman's team and part by the Russian Red Cross; distribution will be conducted jointly with Lubinets.

A localised ceasefire covering Oleshky and surrounding areas, as well as Kherson on the opposite bank of the Dnipro river, runs from Tuesday through Sunday. The pause is intended to allow convoys through territory otherwise blocked by drone strikes and mines.

Residents will also be permitted to leave. Several hundred people have registered on an evacuation list and more than 20 buses stand ready, according to Ukrainska Pravda. Roughly 1,500 people remain in the city, down from a pre-war population of around 24,000.

US First Lady Melania Trump, who brokered the humanitarian mission, confirmed the mine clearance on platform X, writing that all routes agreed by Ukraine and Russia had been cleared for safe passage.