White House says Melania Trump secured a local Russia-Ukraine ceasefire in Oleshky from 29 October; Kremlin and Kyiv confirm

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a temporary ceasefire limited to the town of Oleshky in the Kherson region, the White House said on Friday 23 October, crediting US First Lady Melania Trump with securing it. The White House said both countries agreed to stop all military action in the town “to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and to prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe passageway”, starting on 29 October.

“The situation in Oleshky is dire,” Melania Trump said in the statement, adding that the remaining residents are mainly elderly people who need medicine, food and clean water. She said civilian teams from both countries would visit residents and that those who wish to leave would be taken to their preferred destination, “some to Russia, and some to Ukraine”. The White House estimated that 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in the town, which had about 24,000 residents before the war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the agreement, said the Russian and Ukrainian militaries were working out the dates, and said the evacuation was expected to take at least several days, Reuters reported. “We welcome the efforts of the First Lady of the United States,” he said.

Ukraine’s parliamentary human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets also confirmed that a ceasefire, aid deliveries and safe passage for civilians would take place on 29 October. He said the operation was “extremely complex and will be carried out in stages”, and thanked Melania Trump and her team, Ukrainska Pravda reported.

Oleshky, on the left bank of the Dnipro River opposite Kherson city, has been under Russian control since 2022.