White House sets Oleshky humanitarian pause for late October

The White House announced on Friday that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a temporary ceasefire in the occupied city of Oleshky. The truce is scheduled to begin on Oct. 29. The administration credited Melania Trump with securing the arrangement, stating that she and her representative worked directly with leadership in both countries to define the terms.

The deal will halt military action to allow humanitarian aid to enter the city and to facilitate a civilian evacuation via a designated safe passage. Melania Trump described the situation as dire in a statement, noting that the remaining population consists largely of elderly residents. She said these individuals urgently require medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water. The White House indicated that the city currently has between 1,700 and 2,000 residents, including approximately 50 children, a significant drop from a pre-war population of roughly 24,000.

Non-military teams from both nations will visit residents to help arrange transport for those wishing to leave for either Russia or Ukraine. The White House stated that about 90 percent of Oleshky is flooded following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. The city is located across the Dnipro River from Kherson. Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia confirmed on Telegram that the humanitarian operation would commence once the ceasefire took hold. He noted that the agreement involved a lengthy process with both Trump and Pope Leo.

The Kremlin indicated that the evacuation process would take at least several days. 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. This start date precedes the formal truce beginning on Oct. 29. The Kremlin praised Trump and said work was underway to improve conditions after President Vladimir Putin told Pope Leo he was ready to cooperate on the issue. The two leaders reportedly spoke by telephone last week.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that technical-level talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are planned for 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 following their meeting with Putin. Zelenskyy emphasized that any final peace deal would require strong security guarantees and 10 years of funding for the Ukrainian army.

These announcements follow two weeks of criticism from European allies and members of both U.S. political parties regarding American involvement in the conflict. President Donald Trump previously struck a deal with Putin to import diesel and announced a ceasefire on energy attacks, though Russia continued its strikes. On Oct. 14, Zelenskyy reported that SpaceX had restricted Starlink service, a move Ukrainian officials say hampers strikes and drone defense. Fighting continued on Friday as Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport briefly suspended operations due to a drone threat. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses downed 21 drones over a two-hour period. The two sides also exchanged 270 prisoners each.

Ukraine's acting prosecutor general, Anton Kovalskyi, stated that more than 19,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed since the full-scale invasion began. That total includes 762 children.