Zelensky on Oleshky: Roads Mined, Hopes Rest on US Mediation

President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday, October 24, that he hopes US mediation to unblock Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson region will work, but described the situation as extremely hard because Russian forces have mined the roads.

In his address, Zelensky said: "There is also an agreement on Oleshky. It should be implemented soon so that access to Oleshky is unblocked. In the occupied part of our Kherson region, the Russians have mined the roads, and because of this the situation is difficult, extremely difficult."

What Ukraine hopes for

He said Ukraine hopes a humanitarian operation can unblock Oleshky, deliver food and medicine and let people leave the combat zone. "We had been agreeing on this for some time and at different levels. Ukraine will do its part. We expect that American mediation will work," the president said.

The ceasefire arrangement

On Friday evening, the Ukrainian and Russian general staffs said that from the night of October 27 a ceasefire would take effect in a designated area for a humanitarian operation in occupied Oleshky. The White House said First Lady Melania Trump had secured a truce between Russia and Ukraine in the city, which is suffering a humanitarian disaster. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Russia agreed to a ceasefire for the humanitarian mission, and human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said the operation and ceasefire would take place on October 29.

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