The Ukrainian command reported on Monday that during the "regime of silence" it recorded the rotation of Russian units, the fortification of positions, the expansion of anti-drone measures along roads and a build-up of logistics, in particular the delivery of ammunition. The Russian side has not commented on the statement.
The General Staff stressed that Ukrainian units "ensured compliance with the regime of silence and acted exclusively within the framework of the agreements reached." According to the staff, humanitarian cargo was delivered as a result, and residents of Oleshky who wanted to leave the city returned to territory controlled by Ukraine.
The ceasefire in the Oleshky area was in effect from the night of 27 October until 22:59 on Sunday, 1 November. The process was coordinated by US first lady Melania Trump. The White House had announced the ceasefire on 23 October.
On Saturday, The Telegraph, citing observations by Ukrainian military personnel, reported that Russia may be preparing an offensive on Kherson after the truce ends. Ukrainian military personnel and analysts had earlier warned that the Russian army was using the pause to prepare a new offensive: by their observations, units were being regrouped and drone crews and military infrastructure were being pulled toward the Dnipro.
On 30 October, a Ukrainian delegation led by Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada human rights commissioner, arrived in Oleshky. According to the ombudsman, 25 buses with 750 seats and ambulances for people with limited mobility were prepared for the evacuation. Two convoys left the city the same day: one for Ukraine and the other for Russia, with the number of evacuees in each unknown.
After people arrived in the Chernihiv region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the humanitarian operation had taken place. Melania Trump called the mission successful: according to her, the delivery of aid and the evacuation of almost 800 people were ensured (she did not specify how many of them reached territory controlled by Ukraine).
Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova and Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said they had agreed to continue work on new humanitarian missions.
Oleshky was occupied in the first days of the full-scale invasion. The city is located on the left bank of the Dnipro, four kilometres from Kherson, which remains under Ukraine's control. Since the start of the occupation there has been no electricity or gas, and after the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric power station, no drinking water either.