Lubinets: Aid convoy staged in Armyansk for Oleshky residents

A humanitarian aid mission for the city of Oleshky is scheduled to begin Friday, with a convoy of 25 vehicles staged in a nearby town under Russian control. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's ombudsman, confirmed the operation is ready to deliver supplies to residents who have been cut off by fighting and mined roads.

Lubinets said the convoy, which includes buses and ambulances, is positioned in Armyansk. That town lies in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine, approximately 85 kilometers, or 53 miles, south of Oleshky. The official stated the primary goal is to ensure aid reaches every person in need, with special focus on the elderly and people with disabilities.

The localized ceasefire allowing this delivery was brokered by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump. She led the negotiations between Lubinets and his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova. Oleshky, located just inside occupied territory in the Kherson region, gained international attention after heavy combat left residents without food or medicine.

Moscow and Kyiv have maintained the truce around the devastated city since Tuesday. This pause in fighting is specific to the area and does not halt the wider war that started with Russia's full-scale invasion more than four and a half years ago.

Previous attempts to establish ceasefires in the conflict have either failed or resulted in truces that quickly collapsed. The current arrangement marks a brief window for the humanitarian effort in the southern front.