Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov announced Moscow will halt fire along the Kherson frontline in what it described as a “silence regime” to allow a humanitarian operation in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, starting Oct. 27.
Gerasimov set the announced date two days earlier than the date previously agreed upon with the White House, noting that it would take effect at 4 a.m. Moscow time.
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“To ensure the safety of people and the delivery of socially important cargo, engineering reconnaissance will be organized and safe movement of a humanitarian convoy into the settlement of Oleshky in Kherson region will be ensured,” Gerasimov said, according to Interfax-Russia on Friday, Oct. 23.
The operation to last several days
Asked about the duration of the humanitarian operation, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to provide a specific timeline.
However, according to Russian state-owned media TASS, he said that the operation would “naturally” take “at least several days.”
Kyiv confirms the ceasefire
Although Ukraine has confirmed the White House-brokered arrangement, it has yet to comment on Moscow’s earlier start date.
The Kremlin’s decision to declare a ceasefire raises immediate concerns of possible sabotage among Ukrainian media, given Moscow’s pattern of breaking previous ceasefires, particularly those it declares itself.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, who led the talks with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, earlier confirmed that the ceasefire would take place on Oct. 29.
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He outlined three key components of the deal. “First, a silence regime will be ensured; second, humanitarian cargo will be delivered to Oleshky; third, free movement of civilians from Oleshky will be ensured,” Lubinets said, according to Ukrainska Pravda.
However, he did not provide additional details on how long each stage would take, nor how much aid would be delivered. No details were given on the evacuation routes either.
Lubinets also urged the public and media to be careful when sharing information about the mission. “The whole world now knows about Oleshky,” he said, promising to keep Ukrainians informed and show the results of the operation.
Davyd Arakhamia, who heads President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People party in Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, said that the operation to unblock Oleshky and its surroundings would begin soon.
He described the agreement as a result of a long process involving many people at different political levels, singling out Pope Leo XIV and Melania Trump for their roles.
At the time of the report, neither Kyiv nor Washington has explained why Moscow announced a start date earlier than the one agreed upon.
How the negotiations unfolded
Oleshky, located in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region on the left bank of the Dnipro River, about 5 km (3 miles) southeast of the city of Kherson, has been under Russian occupation since the early days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Ukrainian officials and European leaders have long been aware of the crisis in Oleshky and have worked for months to secure a safe evacuation and restore food supplies, which have not reached the city since May 26.
Beyond food, the town’s residents barely have any drinking water or medicine.
According to Tetiana Hasanenko, head of the Oleshky City Military Administration, Oleshky’s only pharmacy has also reportedly run out of essential medications months ago, while overall medical care has been significantly complicated due to power cuts and lack of fuel as the city remains isolated.
“Families are starving, surviving on leftover garden vegetables, canned goods, and even snails. Residents say that Russian soldiers have threatened them at gunpoint to seize their food,” Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.
In a statement on Sept. 16, Lubinets said that the residents had started escaping on foot independently across mined fields and under threat of constant Russian drone attacks, simply because they saw no other way out. At the time, he also said Russia had failed to uphold previously agreed arrangements for a humanitarian mission.
“They see no other way to escape this hell,” Lubinets said, adding that his office had received 176 appeals regarding the humanitarian situation in Oleshky, and had already verified at least 358 people who urgently need assistance to leave safely.
On Monday, Oct. 19, Lubinets confirmed that Kyiv and Moscow were in daily contact over a possible evacuation, noting that the Russian side had taken up all proposals previously submitted by Ukraine.
“I cannot disclose many details, but I will say this: In my view, we have made significant progress,” he said.
Ukrainian authorities estimate that about 6,000 people, including some 200 children, remain across Oleshky and the surrounding settlements.
According to European Parliament Vice President Pina Picierno, who declared a hunger strike on Tuesday, Oct. 20, in protest over the starvation of civilians in Oleshky, roughly 1,700 people remain in the city from a prewar population of 24,000, including 47 children.
However, neither figure could be independently verified, particularly because Russian occupation authorities narrowly restrict access to information from the area.
White House brokers a date
Earlier on Friday, the White House announced that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to temporarily halt military activity in Oleshky to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and prepare civilian evacuations, starting Oct. 29.
It was not specified how long the truce would last or how many people are expected to be evacuated.
According to Washington’s statement, non-military representatives from Ukraine and Russia would visit residents at home to assess their needs.
“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,” said US First Lady Melania Trump.
The Associated Press previously reported that neither the Ukrainian nor the Russian government immediately commented.
Vatican reaches out to both countries
Pope Leo XIV held a telephone discussion with Putin on Oct. 16, in what marked the second phone call between the two, following their first conversation on June 4, 2025 that also focused on the war in Ukraine.
The pope had expressed his deep concern about the humanitarian situation in Oleshky, urging the Russian president to agree to an immediate ceasefire and allow the delivery of food and medical assistance to the city.
He also called for a safe evacuation of the civilians.
While the Kremlin backed Vatican’s initiative and agreed to cooperate, it again pinned the blame for the crisis on Ukraine, despite Kyiv’s repeated appeals to Russian authorities and international partners to secure humanitarian access to the town.
The pontiff then spoke to President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday, Oct. 19, reiterating his earlier request for a humanitarian ceasefire. He expressed hope for a cooperation between Kyiv and Moscow which would allow for the desperately needed food and medical supplies to reach trapped civilians.
“We are working to help our people there. We are preparing decisions,” Zelensky said, confirming the conversation.