Oleshky residents to leave under truce starting Monday

A temporary ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky is scheduled to begin at 4 a.m. local time on Monday, Oct. 27, according to a White House announcement made Friday. The pause in military action is designed to allow humanitarian teams to enter the city and facilitate the evacuation of remaining civilians.

The White House stated that Melania Trump worked directly with leadership from both nations to finalize the terms of the localized truce. In a statement, Trump described the conditions in Oleshky as dire, noting that the population consists primarily of elderly residents in urgent need of medical care, food, and clean water. She credited the arrangement as a way to stabilize a front-line city on the brink of disaster.

Ukraine’s top negotiator, David Arakhamia, confirmed the deal on Telegram, attributing the agreement to a long process involving both Trump and Pope Leo. He explained that the ceasefire will create a safe corridor for people to exit and for assistance to reach the population. The Kremlin acknowledged the agreement, stating that an evacuation would require at least a few days to complete. Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov confirmed that Russian forces would cease firing from 4 a.m. on Monday to support the operation.

Oleshky sits across the Dnipro River from Kherson. The White House reported that the city’s population has dropped from roughly 24,000 before the war to between 1,700 and 2,000 residents today, including about 50 children. Approximately 90 percent of the city is currently flooded following the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. Under the new deal, non-military teams from both countries will visit residents in their homes to arrange transport for those wishing to leave for either Russia or Ukraine.

The humanitarian pause follows a week of diplomatic activity. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that technical-level talks between negotiators from Ukraine, Russia, and the United States are planned for Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. Zelenskyy said he spoke with U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff after their recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He emphasized that any final peace deal would require strong security guarantees and ten years of funding for the Ukrainian army.

These developments occur amid ongoing criticism from European allies and U.S. political parties over American involvement in the conflict. President Donald Trump recently struck a deal with Putin to import diesel and announced a ceasefire on energy attacks, though Russian strikes continued. Separately, Zelenskyy noted that SpaceX had restricted Starlink service in Ukraine, a move officials say hampers drone defense and strikes.

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