Oleshky Truce to Begin Oct 29 Amid Aid Crisis

A temporary ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky will take effect on Oct 29, according to a White House announcement made on Friday.

The agreement pauses all military action in the city to allow humanitarian aid to reach residents and to prepare for civilian evacuation via a designated safe passage. The White House stated that the city’s population has dropped to between 1,700 and 2,000 people, including about 50 children. This represents a steep decline from the pre-war population of roughly 24,000. The announcement noted that approximately 90 percent of the city remains flooded following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam.

Melania Trump was credited by the White House with securing the arrangement, working directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership. She described the situation as dire in a statement, noting that the remaining residents are mostly elderly and in urgent need of medicine, food, and clean water. Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia confirmed the deal on Telegram, stating that the humanitarian operation would begin once the ceasefire holds. He acknowledged the involvement of both Trump and Pope Leo in the process. The Kremlin indicated that evacuation could take several days and praised Trump for her role. Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov specified that Russian forces will cease firing from 4 a.m. local time on Oct 27 to support the operation.

The truce allows non-military teams from both nations to visit residents in their homes and arrange transport for those wishing to leave for either Russia or Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced separately that technical-level talks among Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are scheduled for the first half of November in Abu Dhabi. Zelenskyy spoke with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff after their recent meeting with Vladimir Putin. He emphasized that any final peace deal requires strong security guarantees and ten years of funding for Ukraine’s army. These announcements come amid continued fighting, with Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport briefly suspending operations due to a drone threat. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported that air defenses downed 21 drones over the capital in two hours. Additionally, the two sides exchanged 270 prisoners each on Friday.

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