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Ceasefire in Oleshky Brokered by Melania Trump
· Confirmed
In Short: A ceasefire in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky was brokered by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, allowing for humanitarian aid and civilian evacuation.
On October 23, a brief ceasefire was announced in Oleshky, a city occupied by Russian forces since February 2022.
Pope Leo XIV had previously called for a ceasefire in Oleshky, expressing deep concern over the humanitarian situation.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced a cessation of shelling in the direction of Ukraine’s city of Kherson to prepare for the effort in Oleshky.
The ceasefire promises to help more than 1,000 civilians in Oleshky, a town that has endured limited electricity, mined roads, and regular military attacks.
According to Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament commissioner for human rights, the pause in fighting began around 3 a.m. local time as part of a humanitarian mission with the mediation of Melania Trump and Yana Lantratova, Russia’s commissioner for human rights.
Ukraine's top negotiator said the ceasefire will last until November 1, allowing for the evacuation of civilians and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Melania Trump stated in a White House statement that without her intervention, bringing humanitarian aid into the city and evacuating the elderly would be impossible.
The ceasefire began two days earlier than initially planned, on October 29, to protect the safety of civilians and facilitate the delivery of critical humanitarian aid.
Both sides agreed to temporarily suspend military operations in Oleshky to allow humanitarian assistance to enter and establish a safe passage for residents seeking to leave.
The operation will be carried out gradually and is extremely challenging to implement, according to Lubinets.
Residents who wish to evacuate will receive coordinated support and transportation to their preferred destination, with some choosing to go to Russia and others to Ukraine.
What this adds
The ceasefire began on October 29, two days earlier than initially planned.
The White House insists that Melania Trump mediated the ceasefire, while Pope Leo XIV had previously appealed for a ceasefire in Oleshky.
The ceasefire is not a comprehensive end to hostilities and is set to last until November 1.
The White House said the ceasefire began Tuesday, while conflicting reports suggest it began earlier.
Background
Melania Trump says she helped to broker a localised ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the war-ravaged Ukrainian city Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid and the evacuation of civilians, according to the White House.
Melania Trump says she helped broker a ceasefire in the Ukrainian city of Oleshky to allow for humanitarian aid and civilian evacuation.
What's confirmed
- Then, on October 23, a brief ceasefire was announced.
- Pope Leo spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin via phone call on October 16 and expressed his “deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the city of Oleshky”, adding that he had called for a ceasefire to allow for food and medical assistance.
- On Telegram, Russia’s Ministry of Defence announced that it had stopped shelling in the direction of Ukraine’s city of Kherson from 4am Moscow time (01:00 GMT) on Tuesday, to prepare for the effort in Oleshky.
- A critical localised ceasefire in Ukraine that promises to help more than 1,000 civilians has set off an unlikely contest over who brokered the truce.
- Here’s what we know about the Oleshky ceasefire, and why the diverging versions of what led to the truce matter: Russia took the southern Ukrainian town of Oleshky in the Kherson region in the early days of the invasion in February 2022 and has retained control over it since.
- “The people of Oleshky have limited electricity, live amid mined roads, and endure regular military attacks. It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible,” she said in a statement issued by the White House.
- The pause in fighting in Oleshky started around 3 a.m. local time as "part of a humanitarian mission being carried out with the mediation and coordination of U.S. first lady Melania Trump, in cooperation with Yana Lantratova, Russia’s commissioner for human rights," according to Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament commissioner for human rights.
- In this undated image from video provided by the Ukrainian 34th Separate Marine Brigade "Borysfen" on Sept. 22, 2026, smoke rises from a residential neighborhood in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in the Kherson region of Ukraine. (Ukrainian 34th Separate Marine Brigade "Borysfen" via AP) Fresh strikes also hit a bridge and subway infrastructure in Ukraine's capital of Kyiv on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
- Ukraine's top negotiator said the ceasefire will last until November 1.
- Tue, Oct 27, 2026 | Jumada al-Awwal 15, 1448 | Fajr 05:05 | DXB 31.5 °C US first lady Melania Trump has secured a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky, which will begin on October 29, the White House said on Friday.
- Russia and Ukraine began a localized ceasefire early Tuesday to allow humanitarian aid into the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine.
- "Residents who wish to evacuate will receive coordinated support and transportation to their preferred destination. I anticipate some will want to go to Russia, and some to Ukraine," Melania Trump said.
What's still developing
- Oleshky is about 340 miles southeast of Kyiv and across the Dnipro River from the city of Kherson, the region’s administrative capital, which Russian forces seized in the early stages of the 2022 invasion, though they later retreated across the river.
- "It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible.” The first lady has been heavily involved in humanitarian efforts in the Ukraine War, most notably working to reunite families separated from their children by the conflict.
- Still, the Kremlin said on Monday that the truce might set a precedent for similar localised ceasefires in the future.
- Competing claims over the ceasefire mark the latest tensions between the White House and the Vatican.
- A rumor spread in late October that U.S. f irst lady Melania Trump took credit for brokering a humanitarian ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in Oleshky, Ukraine, even though Pope Leo XIV spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy days before she announced it.
- Ukraine has appealed repeatedly for a local ceasefire to organise evacuations.
- The truce began Tuesday and aims to provide food, medicine and evacuation for about 2,000 residents.
- A Russian drone strike on two passenger trains stopped at a station in Dnipro killed at least 13 people and injured 10 others, according to Ukrainian officials.