According to Russian state propaganda agency TASS, the
general confirmed the truce will allow to help the besieged residents of Oleshky.
Gerasimov said Russian forces would conduct engineering
reconnaissance and arrange safe passage for a humanitarian convoy to protect
civilians and deliver aid.
Earlier the same day, the White House said U.S. first lady
Melania Trump had helped broker a local truce between Russia and Ukraine that
would temporarily halt fighting around Oleshky.
U.S. officials said the truce was scheduled to begin Oct. 29
to allow humanitarian aid to be delivered and civilians to be evacuated.
David Arakhamia, head of Ukraine’s ruling Servant of the
People party, said an operation to lift the blockade of Oleshky and surrounding
areas in Kherson Oblast would begin soon.
On Sept. 16, the German newspaper Bild reported that
Oleshky was under a humanitarian blockade. Residents said they had survived the
summer on vegetables grown in their gardens, but with the growing season over,
they now faced the threat of starvation.
At the time, Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Russia
had for an extended period refused to confirm its readiness to evacuate
civilians from Oleshky, despite previous agreements and prepared plans for the
mission.