Trilateral Delegation Arrives Ahead of Oleshky Aid Delivery as Newsmax Observers Draw Scrutiny

A delegation of Ukrainian, US and Russian representatives has arrived at the site from which humanitarian aid will be delivered to Russian-occupied Oleshky on Friday, Oct. 30. Davyd Arakhamia, who leads President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party in parliament, said on Thursday, Oct. 29 that journalists from all three countries had also reached the location. Their presence, he said, is meant to make the next stage of the humanitarian mission as transparent as possible.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. The truce, which marked a rare instance of de-escalation in Russia’s fifth year of war, initially began clouded by confusion as Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov announced a “silence regime” along the Kherson front beginning Oct. 27 – two days earlier than the Oct. 29 date set by the White House. Despite fears of possible sabotage that Moscow’s unilateral announcement widely raised, the ceasefire is still holding as no incident has been reported for more than 64 hours. Newsmax crew draws scrutiny On Wednesday, Oct. 28 US First Lady Melania Trump, who mediated the agreement, announced that four journalists from the US conservative broadcaster Newsmax would be embedded with Ukrainian and Russian humanitarian officials in Oleshky. She described them as “neutral observers” who would independently document the mission. Shortly before, Kremlin’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev wrote on X that Russia was welcoming the Newsmax journalists to report firsthand on the mission; a post that Melania Trump shared. Other Topics of Interest EXPLAINED: Trump Jr.’s Russian Wedding Sponsor – What We Know About IB Challenger The firm deals with sponsorships for Russia’s International Boxing Association (IBA) which, until late 2024, took money from Gazprom, though subsequent funding remains unclear. Michael Bociurkiw, a global affairs analyst and senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, questioned the arrangement, as the Newsmax crew essentially represents the American delegation instead of US authorities, who are reportedly not expected on the ground. 54+ hours into the Oleshky ceasefire, the First Lady amplifies Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev and bills a Newsmax crew as "neutral observers." With no US officials on the ground, that crew is effectively the American presence. The US side is reportedly coordinated by Marc Beckman,… https://t.co/SebejBf2Vr— Michael Bociurkiw (@WorldAffairsPro) October 29, 2026 Dmitriev’s growing role in Washington Dmitriev heads the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which the US Treasury sanctioned in 2022, under the previous Biden administration as it is closely connected to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Since US President Donald Trump struck a diesel arrangement with Putin on Oct. 9, Dmitriev has become not only Moscow’s main economic channel to the Trump administration, but possibly a key negotiator in the ceasefire. The Trump administration is currently reviewing a request to lift sanctions on the fund, which helped arrange Russian diesel shipments to the US. Only a week prior, US special envoy Steve Witkoff confirmed that the US Treasury was working with Dmitriev directly. Kyiv’s request for US journalists Zelensky said that it was Ukraine’s idea to bring American journalists to the site, citing Kyiv’s distrust of the Russian side. According to Ukrinform, he did not know which direction residents would choose when leaving. Moving deeper into Russian-occupied territory would be easier due to the routes available, he acknowledged, but many people in Oleshky want to reach Ukrainian-controlled areas. “I know how technically the evacuation to Ukraine can take place, but I don’t know what will really happen,” Zelensky said. Rights advocates warn of ‘human shield’ Ukrainian human rights advocates have warned that Moscow may try to keep part of the population in place. Oleksandr Pavlichenko, executive director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, told Ukrainian Radio that Russia sees civilians in frontline Oleshky as a human shield against Ukrainian fire, Ukrinform reported earlier on Thursday, Oct. 29. According to Pavlichenko, there was no information available yet on whether Russian forces would subject evacuees to filtration, but warned that the risks existed. So far, he said, further details about international observers, including their number and access, remain unclear. Saving the children from what Ukrainian senior authorities previously called a “death trap” remains a priority. Petro Andriushchenko, head of the Center for the Study of Occupation, said Russian forces would almost certainly use the truce to move and rotate their units, adding that such activity could also take place on the Ukrainian side of the Dnipro River. Human-made catastrophe Oleshky, located on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, roughly 5 kilometers (3 miles) southeast of Kherson city, has faced severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine for months, with the last food delivery reported on May 26. According to Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha’s estimates, roughly 1,700 people remain in the city from a prewar population of 24,000, including 47 children. Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets, who leads the humanitarian operation, earlier said that about 6,000 people, including some 200 children, remain across Oleshky and the surrounding settlements. In his view, up to 2,000 people could remain in Oleshky itself. However, neither figure could be independently verified, particularly because Russian occupation authorities narrowly restrict access to information from the area. Lubinets said on Sept. 16 that the residents had started escaping on foot independently across mined fields and under threat of constant Russian drone attacks, simply because they saw no other way out. Before the truce was officially announced, Pope Leo XIV held a telephone discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Oct. 16, urging him to agree to an immediate ceasefire and allow the delivery of food and medical assistance to the city. The pontiff then spoke to Zelensky on Monday, Oct. 19, reiterating his earlier request for a humanitarian ceasefire. On Oct. 20, European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno declared a hunger strike in protest over the starvation of civilians in Oleshky.