Arahamia admits: the ceasefire in Oleshky began without a monitoring mechanism

The head of the Servant of the People faction, David Arakhamia, who was part of the negotiating delegation, explained how the parties agreed on monitoring the temporary ceasefire in occupied Oleshky, Kherson Oblast. He spoke about the agreement while talking to journalists in Washington.

A ceasefire was introduced on October 27, 2026, to allow a humanitarian mission to operate in the area of Oleshky. Describing how the truce began, the politician acknowledged a gap in its organization.

“When we introduced the ceasefire for the first 24 hours, we essentially forgot to put in place a mechanism for monitoring incidents,” David Arakhamia said.

According to him, both sides, citing intelligence, reported troop movements and the transportation of ammunition. To objectively verify such reports, they proposed allowing each side to keep two drones in the air at all times. The parties agreed to this form of surveillance: the drones were to monitor the situation and troop movements, and record any possible violations.

Sky News published footage that, according to its crew, shows Russian weapons and equipment being moved into Oleshky during the ceasefire. The journalists described Russian troops using the humanitarian corridor set up to evacuate civilians to reinforce their own forces.

Assessing the claims made by both sides, Arakhamia suggested that the truth was probably somewhere in the middle. He assessed the possibility that the pause had been used for regrouping as follows:

“Maybe someone used it, you know, to regroup to some extent, on a smaller scale, but it was definitely nothing dramatic that would have harmed the positions of the Ukrainian army. That’s for sure,” David Arakhamia stressed.

We previously reported:

• Russians strengthened their positions during the humanitarian pause in Oleshky — General Staff
• Evacuation from occupied Oleshky: everyone wishing to leave is already on the way
• Russian forces may be preparing an offensive on Kherson during the ceasefire
• Ceasefire extended beyond Oleshky to allow humanitarian convoys through
• Ceasefire announced near occupied Oleshky for a humanitarian mission