Oleshky Truce: White House Sets Oct. 29 Start for Aid and Evacuation

The White House announced on Friday that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a temporary ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky. The administration credited Melania Trump with securing the arrangement, which is designed to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid and the preparation of a civilian evacuation. The truce is scheduled to begin on Oct. 29.

A statement from the White House said both nations agreed to halt all military action in the city to allow aid to enter and to establish a designated safe passage for evacuation. The statement noted that Trump and her representative worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to set the terms of this localized pause in hostilities.

Melania Trump described the situation in Oleshky as dire in the statement. She characterized the front-line city as being on the brink of disaster and said the remaining population consists mostly of elderly people who need medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water.

Under the terms of the deal, non-military teams from both countries will visit residents in their homes. These teams will help arrange transport for anyone who wishes to leave for either Russia or Ukraine. The White House stated that Oleshky, which is located across the Dnipro River from Kherson, currently has between 1,700 and 2,000 residents. This includes about 50 children. The population was roughly 24,000 before the war began.

The White House also reported that approximately 90 percent of the city is flooded following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. Ukraine's top negotiator, David Arakhamia, confirmed on Telegram that the humanitarian operation would commence once the ceasefire takes hold. He said the accord followed a long process involving both Trump and Pope Leo and would create a corridor for departure and assistance.

The Kremlin said an evacuation would take at least a few days. It praised Trump and said work was under way to ease conditions in Oleshky. Russian President Vladimir Putin told Pope Leo he was ready to co-operate on the issue after a telephone conversation between the two leaders last week. Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov stated that Russian forces will stop firing from 4 a.m. local time on Oct. 27 to support the operation.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States agreed to hold technical-level talks in Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. He told the Hudson Institute that he had spoken with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff after their meeting with Putin earlier in the week. Zelenskyy stated that any peace deal would require strong security guarantees and 10 years of funding for Ukraine's army.

Fighting continued on Friday despite the announced truce. Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport briefly suspended operations due to a Ukrainian drone threat. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defences downed 21 drones headed for the capital over two hours. The two sides also exchanged 270 prisoners each. Ukraine's acting prosecutor general, Anton Kovalskyi, reported that more than 19,000 Ukrainian civilians, including 762 children, have been killed since the full-scale invasion began.