Aid convoy ready to enter Oleshky as Melania Trump-brokered truce holds day three

Humanitarian aid is set to enter the Ukrainian city of Oleshky on Friday, a Ukrainian official said, as the localised truce between Russia and Ukraine brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump stretched into its third day.

Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets confirmed the ceasefire was holding without recorded violations and that deliveries were due to begin the following day. His Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, also confirmed the truce and said Russian engineers were continuing to clear landmines from Oleshky's roads.

Some 2,000 residents remain cut off from essential supplies inside the Russian-occupied city. Both sides thanked Melania Trump for her role in brokering the temporary pause; Pope Leo XIV also pressed for a truce.

Elsewhere, a jet-powered Russian drone struck two passenger trains stopped at a station in Dnipro on Thursday, killing at least 14 people and injuring 14 more, including a 40-year-old man whose legs were amputated, officials said. A Russian cruise missile killed two 15-year-old girls in Chernihiv, and a Russian drone struck an apartment block in Kremenchuk, killing three more civilians. In total, 56 people were injured across the strikes, including 10 children.

Russia's Defence Ministry said air defences downed 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight in what it described as one of the largest drone attacks launched by Kyiv. Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said around half of the drones were heading toward the Russian capital.