Trump White House Confirms Oleshky Truce Start Date

The White House announced on Friday that Russia and Ukraine will halt military operations in the occupied city of Oleshky beginning October 29. The temporary ceasefire is designed to open a safe passage for humanitarian aid and civilian evacuation. U.S. officials credited First Lady Melania Trump with securing the arrangement after she negotiated directly with leaders from both nations.

The truce follows a period of intense diplomatic activity. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone with Pope Leo. During that call, Putin indicated he was ready to cooperate on the Oleshky situation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later confirmed that U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff had met with Putin earlier in the week.

The White House stated that the agreement allows non-military teams from both countries to enter the city. These teams will visit residents in their homes and arrange transport for those who wish to leave for either Russia or Ukraine. The deal creates a designated corridor for the movement of people and supplies.

Melania Trump described the conditions in Oleshky as dire in a written statement. She noted that the remaining population consists mostly of elderly people who require urgent medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water. The White House said the city sits across the Dnipro River from Kherson and currently holds between 1,700 and 2,000 residents. This number includes about 50 children, a sharp drop from the pre-war population of roughly 24,000.

The city has suffered severe physical damage. The White House reported that approximately 90 percent of Oleshky is flooded following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia wrote on Telegram that the humanitarian operation will begin once the ceasefire takes hold. He described the accord as the result of a long process involving both Melania Trump and Pope Leo.

The Kremlin said the evacuation process will take at least a few days. Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov stated that Russian forces will stop firing from 4 a.m. local time on October 27 to support the operation. This start date precedes the official October 29 commencement of the full truce.

Separate technical talks are scheduled for the first half of November. Zelenskyy said that negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States agreed to meet in Abu Dhabi. He told the Hudson Institute that any final peace deal would require strong security guarantees and 10 years of funding for Ukraine's army.

These announcements come amid continued fighting and recent diplomatic friction. On Friday, Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport briefly suspended operations due to a Ukrainian drone threat. Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said air defenses downed 21 drones over two hours. The two sides also exchanged 270 prisoners each. Ukrainian acting prosecutor general Anton Kovalskyi said more than 19,000 Ukrainian civilians, including 762 children, have been killed since the full-scale invasion began.