1,700 to 2,000 Residents Await Oleshky Aid as Truce Starts Oct. 29

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 stated the truce is scheduled to begin on Oct. 29. Officials credited Melania Trump with securing the arrangement, noting that she and her representative worked directly with both governments to establish the terms.

The localized pause in fighting is designed to allow humanitarian aid to enter the city and to facilitate the evacuation of civilians via a designated safe passage. A White House statement described the current conditions in Oleshky as dire. Melania Trump said the remaining population consists mostly of elderly residents who require urgent medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water.

Under the agreement, non-military teams from both nations will visit residents in their homes to assist with transport arrangements for those wishing to leave for either Russia or Ukraine. The White House reported that Oleshky, located across the Dnipro River from Kherson, currently holds between 1,700 and 2,000 residents. This group includes approximately 50 children. Before the war, the city’s population was roughly 24,000.

Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia confirmed the deal on Telegram. He stated that the humanitarian operation would commence once the ceasefire takes effect. Arakhamia noted that the accord followed a prolonged process involving Melania Trump and Pope Leo. He said the agreement would create a corridor for people to depart and for assistance to arrive.

The Kremlin indicated that the evacuation process would require at least a few days. Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov announced that Russian forces would cease firing from 4 a.m. local time on Oct. 27 to support the operation. The Kremlin praised Melania Trump and stated that work was underway to improve conditions in Oleshky following a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Pope Leo last week.

Separately, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that technical-level talks among Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are set to take place in Abu Dhabi during the first half of November. Zelenskyy told the Hudson Institute that he had spoken with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff following their meeting with Putin earlier in the week. He stated that any future peace deal would require strong security guarantees and ten years of funding for the Ukrainian army.

Fighting continued on Friday despite the announcements. Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport briefly suspended operations due to a Ukrainian drone threat. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defense systems downed 21 drones headed for the capital over two hours. The two sides also exchanged 270 prisoners each. Ukrainian 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.