Melania brokers ceasefire in one town in southern Ukraine... Russia launches massive strikes across Ukraine at the same time

[Financial News] A localized ceasefire to allow aid supplies into the Oleshky area of Kherson Oblast in southern Ukraine, which is under Russian occupation, and to evacuate civilians has begun. However, large-scale bombardments struck across Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv, around the start of the ceasefire, leaving it unclear whether this can lead to genuine peace talks.

According to the AP and other foreign news outlets on the 27th (local time), Russia’s Defense Ministry and Ukraine’s General Staff halted fire toward Oleshky at 4 a.m. Moscow time (3 a.m. in Kyiv) that day and began a “silence regime” (a temporary suspension of military action). The ceasefire was the result of an agreement between the two countries brokered by Melania, wife of U.S. President Donald Trump, who acted as an “exclusive mediator.”
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine’s parliamentary commissioner for human rights, officially confirmed the start of the ceasefire on Facebook. According to David Arakhamia, the chief negotiator in the peace talks, the localized ceasefire is expected to remain in effect until 10:59 p.m. on the 1st of next month (Kyiv time). During that period, the two sides plan to clear mines from roads, open evacuation corridors, and bring in medical personnel, food and other supplies.
Oleshky, across the Dnipro River from the city of Kherson, was occupied by Russian forces on the first day of the war in 2022 and suffered flooding when a dam collapsed in June last year. Its prewar population of 24,000 has mostly fled, leaving around 1,700 to 2,000 people, including elderly residents and about 50 children. With food, drinking water and medicine running low, they have faced a severe humanitarian crisis, trapped amid the threat of landmines and drone attacks.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the operation, “The evacuation of residents could take several days, and this ceasefire could set a precedent for other areas that need a humanitarian ceasefire.”


But even as a respite came to Oleshky, indiscriminate overnight attacks continued unabated in other parts of Ukraine.
At the very moment the Oleshky ceasefire took effect, air raid alerts sounded across the country as ballistic missiles exploded in the capital, Kyiv. Russia launched 16 ballistic missiles and around 280 drones by dawn, targeting almost all of Ukraine, including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa. At least 15 people were injured in Kyiv alone, and damage to major bridges over the Dnipro River and metro infrastructure halted train services. The previous night, on the 26th, a university campus in Kyiv was also hit, causing casualties.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy strongly criticized Russia, saying, “Russia is escalating its offensive, increasingly targeting our logistics areas, energy and ordinary urban infrastructure,” and adding, “The world must know that Russia is showing only its will to kill and continue the war.”
Ukraine, too, continued its retaliatory attacks on Russian territory and occupied areas. That day, a Ukrainian drone attack in Russia’s western Bryansk Oblast killed one person and injured six. In Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, a drone also struck a bus, killing one person and injuring 30. The bloody clashes between the two sides have continued without pause.
[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter