In this undated image from a video provided by Ukraine’s 34th Separate Marine Brigade “Borysfen” on September 22, 2026, smoke is seen rising from a residential neighborhood in the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky, Ukraine’s Kherson region. MYKOLAIV, Ukraine – A localized ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia went into effect early Tuesday ahead of a humanitarian mission brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump, as missile strikes on kyiv resumed. The local pause in fighting began at 3 a.m. to allow for an aid mission to the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine later this week. According to her office, Melania Trump led talks with civilian negotiators from Russia and Ukraine after meeting with UN officials who briefed her on the situation in the city. The aid mission is planned ahead of a new round of US-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine scheduled for next month aimed at ending the war after more than four and a half years of fighting. Up to 2,000 people are trapped in Oleshky, with food and medicine in short supply. According to the UN, Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, as well as the military of both countries, confirmed in separate statements that the ceasefire had begun, they cannot leave due to explosive mines and drone attacks in the area. The local ceasefire is due to last until Saturday, or longer, although deep mistrust between Russia and Ukraine has thwarted previous ceasefire attempts. Minutes after 3 a.m., multiple ballistic missile explosions rocked kyiv and air alerts sounded in multiple parts of the country. Emergency workers remove debris and damaged road infrastructure near a destroyed car following a Russian overnight attack in kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2026. Dan Bashakov/AP hide caption toggle caption i Dan Bashakov/AP On Monday night, the capital also came under attack, when Russian ballistic missiles damaged the grounds of a university in kyiv, killing one person and wounding 10, city officials said. In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, authorities said Monday night’s attacks killed two people and wounded four. “It is important for the world to see that Russia shows nothing more than a desire to kill and continue waging war,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in an online post shortly afterward. Oleshky is located in the partially occupied Kherson region, about 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of kyiv, where the Dnipro River separates Russian and Ukrainian forces. It was captured by Moscow’s forces on the first day of their full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Another calamity occurred in June 2023 when floods inundated the city due to a dam collapse. Oleshky is located across the Dnipro River from the city of Kherson, the administrative capital of the region. Russian forces took Kherson in the early stages of the 2022 invasion, but withdrew across the river several months later. Negotiators involved in the aid mission said doctors, medicine, food and water would be brought to Oleshky before evacuation corridors opened.
