KHERSON, Ukraine (AP) — Humanitarian aid is poised to roll into the stricken city of Oleshky, a Ukrainian official said Thursday, as a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine stretched into a third day and military units cleared away landmines.
Moscow and Kyiv have observed the truce in and around the devastated southern Ukrainian city since Tuesday, but remain otherwise locked in the war that began with Russia’s full-scale invasion more than 4 ½ years ago. Previous efforts to secure ceasefires either never worked out or the truces quickly fell apart.
Elsewhere, a jet-powered Russian drone hit two passenger trains stopped at a station in Dnipro in central Ukraine on Thursday, killing at least 14 people and injuring 14 more, including a 40-year-old man whose legs were amputated, officials said.
Also, a Russian cruise missile killed two 15-year-old girls in the northern city of Chernihiv, and three more civilians died when a Russian drone hit an apartment block in the central Ukraine city of Kremenchuk, authorities said. In all, 56 people were injured in the strikes, including 10 children.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 1,214 Ukrainian drones overnight in one of the largest drone attacks launched by Kyiv. Around half of the drones were heading to the Russian capital, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said.
The planned six-day ceasefire around Russian-occupied Oleshky has brought a rare and welcome stillness for civilians in the nearby city of Kherson, which is held by Ukraine and has also been wracked by the war.
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