Russia used a humanitarian ceasefire in southern Ukraine to rotate troops, strengthen defensive positions and move ammunition towards the front, Kyiv has claimed, raising fresh questions over Moscow’s willingness to respect agreements designed to protect civilians.
Ukraine’s General Staff said Russian forces exploited the temporary suspension of fighting around the occupied city of Oleshky to reinforce their military presence, expand anti-drone defences and improve logistical routes.
“During the regime of silence, the rotation of Russian units, strengthening of positions, expansion of anti-drone means on the roads and the increase in logistics, in particular the delivery of ammunition, were recorded,” the General Staff said in a statement on November 2.
The allegations followed a ceasefire in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, agreed to allow civilians to escape Oleshky, which has been under Russian occupation since the early days of the full-scale invasion.
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British broadcaster Sky News also reported that Russian troops had used the pause in fighting to reposition soldiers and reinforce positions, citing Ukrainian drone footage showing heavy armoured and logistics vehicles operating in the area.
Ukrainian marines interviewed by the broadcaster said the movements were unrelated to the humanitarian evacuation mission.
The General Staff said Ukrainian forces had complied with the ceasefire and acted only within the terms of the agreement.
“As part of the ceasefire introduced for the humanitarian operation in Oleshky, units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces ensured compliance with the regime of silence and acted exclusively within the framework of the agreements reached,” it said.
A Ukrainian military source told the Kyiv Independent that Russia had a history of using humanitarian ceasefires as cover for renewed offensive activity.
The truce, brokered with assistance from US first lady Melania Trump, ran from 3am on October 27 until 11pm on November 1. Neither side reported violations during the agreed period.
The humanitarian operation was intended to provide an escape route for residents trapped in the occupied city, which lies across the Dnipro river from Kherson and has been effectively blockaded by Russian forces. Ukrainian authorities have accused Moscow of preventing humanitarian assistance from reaching the population.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said 25 buses, with capacity for 750 passengers, had been prepared for the evacuation. Melania Trump said on November 2 that nearly 800 people had been evacuated.
Residents were offered the choice of travelling to Ukrainian- or Russian-controlled territory, although the precise number who went to each destination has not been disclosed.
Lubinets said he and Russia’s human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, were exploring ways to continue similar humanitarian operations.
The competing accounts underline the difficulty of securing civilian protection in territory where humanitarian arrangements can intersect with military objectives. For Kyiv, the alleged Russian troop movements risk undermining confidence in future evacuation agreements, even as both sides consider further efforts to remove civilians from occupied areas.
Oleshky’s strategic position on the eastern bank of the Dnipro, opposite Kherson, makes the surrounding area militarily sensitive. The Ukrainian allegations suggest that, while the ceasefire provided a temporary route to safety for hundreds of residents, it may also have offered Russian forces an opportunity to improve their positions.
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