Local Ceasefire in Oleshky Holds as Demining Begins to Open Aid Route

A local ceasefire in southern Ukraine was holding for a second day, officials from both sides said on Wednesday, raising hopes that vital aid can reach residents stranded in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in the Kherson region.

An estimated 2,000 people remain in Oleshky, where food and medical supplies are short. There are reports that many residents are starving and eating weeds. The US-brokered truce took effect early on Tuesday morning.

The human rights ombudsmen of Russia and Ukraine each reported that the pause in fighting had held. Ukraine's Dmytro Lubinets said "30 hours of the ceasefire in Oleshky have passed without a single incident." Russia's Yana Lantratova issued a similarly worded statement, saying no incidents had been recorded in that period.

Lubinets's office said the ceasefire would be guaranteed by the physical presence of both ombudsmen on the ground. Lubinets also said on social media that demining of the route was under way, calling it a crucial step toward the safe delivery of humanitarian aid and toward allowing civilians who wish to leave the city to do so.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said there had been no massive attacks on the regional capital, Kherson, since the truce began. About 280,000 people lived there before Russia's invasion. Speaking to reporters in The Hague, he said even two or three days of calm mattered for residents. He added that the truce would be a "huge success" if the evacuation of Oleshky's citizens went ahead as planned.

Prospects for wider diplomacy appeared less certain. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, quoted by Russian news agencies, said the timing of the next round of three-way talks on a settlement was tied to the conflict in the Middle East. That casts doubt on whether the talks will happen next month as first proposed. Ushakov said Moscow had not yet proposed a specific date and that the timing would also depend on the battlefield situation. Zelenskyy said he hoped a meeting would take place in Abu Dhabi between 6 and 10 November.

Elsewhere, the Netherlands announced new support for Ukraine. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said after meeting Zelenskyy in The Hague that his country would provide €500m ($557m) in military support this winter, to be used for drones and other material. Earlier on Wednesday, the Dutch government said it would give Kyiv €1.2bn in non-military support over the next three years, with part of the money going to funds backing Dutch companies willing to invest in Ukraine's reconstruction.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, speaking at a summit with African leaders in Moscow, praised Elon Musk as "a genius, a true genius," according to the Tass news agency. He said he was in touch with the controlling shareholder of Starlink as Russia works on its own Rassvet satellite constellation for military communications.

Reuters, citing seven industry sources, reported that Russian authorities have issued permits allowing grain export vessels to leave the Sea of Azov for the first time since 10 July. Maritime traffic there was closed on that date because of Ukrainian drone attacks. The permits to pass through the Kerch Strait are valid until 15 November.