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US-brokered truce begins in Ukraine city occupied by Russia / Photo: © AFP/File
US-brokered truce begins in Ukraine city occupied by Russia
A truce between Ukraine and Russia aimed at allowing humanitarian aid into the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky entered into force early Tuesday, having been announced by US First Lady Melania Trump last week.
Both sides said they would observe the truce starting at 3:00 am local time (0100 GMT). AFP was not able to immediately verify whether there had been a decrease in fighting.
The war-ravaged city in Ukraine's southern Kherson region has been caught in the crosshairs of fighting between the two sides since 2022, when it was seized by Russian forces at the start of their invasion.
Former residents told AFP earlier this year that those remaining in the city were starving, lacked medicine and could not easily leave.
The ceasefire, which applies to a limited area, comes as the Ukraine war grinds through its fifth year.
Three-way peace talks between Washington, Moscow and Kyiv are set to resume in November after a months-long hiatus.
Neither Russia, Ukraine or the United States have said who would monitor the truce, or given details about the humanitarian operation set to accompany it.
Announcing last Friday that she had brokered the ceasefire, Melania Trump said civilian officials from both Russia and Ukraine would visit residents in their homes and "determine the level of assistance they require".
"Residents who wish to evacuate will receive coordinated support and transportation to their preferred destination. I anticipate some will want to go to Russia, and some to Ukraine," she said.
Newsmax, a right-wing US cable network, has said it had been granted "exclusive television access" to accompany observers entering the city on Thursday.
- 'Forgotten what bread is' -
Neither Russia or Ukraine have said how long the truce would last.
The Russian defence ministry said on Friday it would halt fire in the "Kherson sector" for the duration of the ceasefire, without giving details.
"To ensure the safety of the population and the delivery of essential humanitarian supplies... the safe passage of a humanitarian convoy to the settlement of Oleshky, Kherson Region, will be facilitated," it quoted army chief Valery Gerasimov as saying.
Ukraine has accused Russia of blocking residents from leaving, a charge Moscow has denied.
The city, on the southern bank of the Dnipro River, was seized by Russian troops in 2022.
The population has since dropped from about 24,000 before Moscow's invasion to around 2,000 today, including as many as 50 children, according to Ukrainian and US estimates.
Russia's human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, alleged Monday that most of those who wished to depart had already done so -- "entirely of their own volition."
Former residents told AFP earlier this year that remaining residents were starving, forced to hunt pigeons or subsist on whatever they had in their garden.
"They've forgotten what bread is. You need flour for bread, and there's not even flour left," said Olga, who was in touch with two families still in Oleshky.
The city was heavily damaged by the 2023 destruction of the Kakhovka dam, which unleashed major flooding along the Dnipro River.
- Videos show destruction -
The Ukrainian army said Friday it would do "everything possible to assist the residents of Oleshky and will make every effort to ensure the safety and rescue of our fellow citizens."
The Ukrainian military has released drone footage of the town showing rows of empty apartment blocks, some charred by fire or partially destroyed by fighting.
Other videos have shown Ukrainian authorities using drones to dispatch medicine and food to remaining residents.
The Russian military does not routinely grant international media access to areas under Russian occupation, including Oleshky.
Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a conflict that has spiralled into Europe's deadliest since World War II.
Russia, which denies targeting civilians, now occupies around a fifth of its neighbour: the Crimean peninsula, which it annexed in 2014, most of the eastern regions of Donetsk and Lugansk -- collectively referred to as the Donbas -- and large parts of the southern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
US-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine are set to resume in November, having been effectively frozen since the United States and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran in February.
G. Pires--JDB
