Russia and Ukraine agree to Oleshky ceasefire

The White House announced on Friday, October 23, 2026, that Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a local ceasefire in Oleshky, a city in the Kherson region that has been under Russian control since the first day of the 2022 invasion. According to the statement, the deal was arranged by US First Lady Melania Trump, in a role the document calls that of sole intermediary. The aim is to let humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate civilians along a safe corridor. Russian Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets have both confirmed the agreement on their side.

When does the Oleshky ceasefire begin?

Here the sides diverge. The White House statement gives October 29 as the start date. Lubinets, who is also Ukraine’s chief negotiator in the talks, said the ceasefire begins on Tuesday, October 27, and lasts several days. He added that the halt in fighting would cover the Kherson region and neighboring areas needed for delivering aid, and that the initiative could serve as a model for future humanitarian missions.

Gerasimov said Russian forces will stop firing along the Kherson front from 4 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday, describing it as a humanitarian operation near Oleshky. Russian troops will also carry out engineering reconnaissance and secure the safe passage of a humanitarian convoy to the city, he added. The Kremlin said the military is still coordinating the timing. So the Russian and Ukrainian sides are both talking about Tuesday, while Washington names a day two days later.

How is the evacuation supposed to work?

Civilian representatives from both countries are to visit residents at their homes and assess what they need. Those who want to leave will be given transport to a destination of their choice. In the statement, Melania Trump said: “I expect some will want to go to Russia and some to Ukraine.”

Both sides have named coordination teams, including teams for demining. Lubinets said the road to Oleshky must be cleared of mines before aid arrives and the evacuation begins. The Russian guarantee came from ombudsman Yana Lantratova: safe passage will be provided to everyone who wants to leave the combat zone, provided the ceasefire holds. The teams on the ground will be accompanied by an American media outlet whose name has not been released.

Who is still in Oleshky?

Before the war, about 24,000 people lived in Oleshky. According to the White House, between 1,700 and 2,000 remain today, mostly elderly, along with roughly 50 children. There has been no formal census since 2022. After the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, about 90 percent of the city’s territory was flooded, and each side accuses the other of blocking supplies.

“The situation in Oleshky is dire,” Melania Trump said in the statement. She described the starting point of the deal as a conversation at her event in New York during the 81st UN General Assembly, and the channel of communication as the one set up through six earlier family reunifications that involved 34 children. By her account, both countries immediately appointed teams, which have worked around the clock since.

What is behind the deal?

The news comes as Washington renews its diplomatic push to end the war. The Kremlin had earlier said it agrees to resume US-mediated talks next month, even though the sides remain far apart on terms. Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed on Friday that Ukrainian negotiators will travel to Abu Dhabi in the first half of November. He spoke with US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, and said any peace agreement requires strong security guarantees and funding to sustain the army for the next ten years.

The American administration has recently met Moscow halfway by buying Russian diesel and suspending some sanctions, which it explains as an effort to bring down high fuel prices caused by the US-Israeli war against Iran.