The key facts
- The 'silence regime' on the Kherson direction has been in effect since 04:00 Moscow time on October 27; the Ukrainian side's since 03:00 Kyiv time
- The White House confirmed Melania Trump's role as the 'exclusive mediator' of the agreement
- An estimated 1,700–2,000 residents remain in Alyoshky out of a pre-war population of 24,000
Local ceasefire comes into force
Russian forces ceased fire on the Kherson direction from 04:00 Moscow time on October 27, 2026 to prepare a humanitarian operation in the area of the city of Alyoshky in Kherson region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. The Ukrainian General Staff, for its part, announced a local ceasefire from 03:00 Kyiv time on the same day — to deliver aid to residents and safely evacuate civilians.
The US role and the terms of the agreement
According to the Anadolu agency, the White House officially confirmed on Friday that US First Lady Melania Trump acted as the 'exclusive mediator' of the local agreement. She stated that the situation in Alyoshky — a frontline city on the eastern bank of the Dnipro — was 'on the brink of catastrophe,' and that without her intervention the delivery of aid and the evacuation of the elderly would have been impossible. Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov said that engineering reconnaissance would be conducted to allow the humanitarian convoy to pass and safe movement of vehicles would be ensured. Under the agreement, representatives of Russia and Ukraine will assess residents' needs; those wishing to leave will receive agreed transportation to one of the countries, and the process will be documented by representatives of an American media organization. Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that the duration of the operation is uncertain, but it could last several days.
Humanitarian situation in the city
Alyoshky, captured by Russian forces in 2022, is experiencing an acute shortage of food, medicine, clean water and electricity, and the roads are mined, the White House reported. Of the roughly 24,000 pre-war residents, an estimated 1,700–2,000 remain, mostly elderly people unable to leave. In June 2023, the destruction of the Nova Kakhovka dam caused massive flooding, including in Alyoshky; Moscow and Kyiv blame each other for the destruction of the dam, as well as for the worsening humanitarian crisis in the city. Separately, Life.ru reported that over three days the military evacuated 87 civilians from Kupyansk-Vuzlovy in Kharkiv region — according to the diplomat Rodion Miroshnik, people were led out of the basement of an apartment building through a passage more than 20 kilometers long along a mined route, and, according to the diplomat, there were drone attacks and mortar shelling during the evacuation.
