Truce begins in Ukraine city where residents ate weeds to survive

Key points

• A limited ceasefire has begun in Oleshky, Ukraine, to allow aid deliveries and civilian evacuation on Friday.
• Residents of the Russian-occupied city have been eating garden weeds to survive, with no utilities for three years.
• Ukraine estimates about 6,000 people, including 200 children, remain in the city and surrounding areas.

A limited ceasefire is being observed in the Ukrainian city of Oleshky, according to Ukrainian officials and Russia's defence ministry. The truce, which the White House said was secured by US First Lady Melania Trump, is intended to allow aid deliveries and civilian evacuation on Friday.

Oleshky, in the Kherson region along the front line, is cut off by the Dnipro River on one side and Russian forces on the other. Many residents have resorted to cooking garden weeds to survive and say they are suffering extreme hunger and want to leave.

Conditions in the city

Before the war, Oleshky was home to 24,000 people. It was seized by Russia in the first days of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Ukraine now estimates some 6,000 people, including 200 children, remain in the city and surrounding areas.

No shops are open, and the city has had no electricity, gas or water for three years. Ukraine has tried to deliver supplies but has not succeeded in recent months, and leaving on foot along mined roads is deemed too dangerous. One woman told the BBC she is in hospital recovering from two surgeries after stepping on a land mine.

I don't believe in Russia's humanity.

— a resident of Oleshky

Evacuation fears and strikes

Many details of the evacuation plans are unclear, including how and where to register. Some people want to know if they can bring their pets, while others question what future they will have if they leave their homes. There are also fears that Russia may not allow them to return to Ukraine or may examine their phones for signs of Ukrainian support.

Russia's defence ministry said on Telegram it had stopped firing toward the Ukrainian city of Kherson, across the river from Oleshky, at 04:00 Moscow time (01:00 GMT) in preparation for the humanitarian operation. Ukraine's parliament commissioner for human rights, Dmytro Lubinets, confirmed in a social media post that the ceasefire had begun. Elsewhere, strikes continued: attacks on Kyiv hit a university and a bridge, killing one person and injuring 14, while a Ukrainian drone strike on Bryansk killed one person and injured six.