Oleshky Truce Starts Oct. 29, Leaving 2,000 Residents Waiting Six Days

The White House announced on Friday that a temporary ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky will begin on October 29. This date creates a six-day gap between the announcement and the start of operations, leaving approximately 1,700 to 2,000 residents without immediate aid.

The truce is designed to halt military action in the city to allow humanitarian teams to enter and prepare for civilian evacuations. The White House statement attributed the agreement to Melania Trump and her representative, who worked directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to set the terms. Trump described the situation in Oleshky as dire, noting that the remaining population is mostly elderly people in urgent need of medical attention, food, and clean water.

Under the agreement, non-military teams from both countries will visit residents in their homes to help arrange transport. Individuals can choose to leave for either Russia or Ukraine via a designated safe passage. The White House stated that Oleshky, located across the Dnipro River from Kherson, has a current population of between 1,700 and 2,000 people, including about 50 children. This represents a sharp decline from the pre-war population of roughly 24,000. The statement also noted that approximately 90 percent of the city was flooded following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.

Ukraine’s chief negotiator, David Arakhamia, confirmed the deal on Telegram. He stated that the humanitarian operation would commence once the ceasefire takes hold. Arakhamia said the accord resulted from a long process involving both Melania Trump and Pope Leo. The Kremlin acknowledged the agreement, with Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov announcing that Russian forces will stop firing from 4 a.m. local time on October 27 to support the operation. The Kremlin also said an evacuation would take at least a few days and that work is under way to ease conditions in the city after President Vladimir Putin told Pope Leo he was ready to co-operate.

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

These announcements follow two weeks of criticism from European allies, Democrats, and some Republicans regarding U.S. involvement in the war. President Donald Trump struck a deal with Putin to import diesel and later announced a ceasefire on energy attacks, though Russia showed no sign of halting its fire. On October 14, Zelenskyy said SpaceX had restricted Starlink service, which Ukrainian officials say hampers strikes and drone defense.

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