Follow-up: Oleshky Ceasefire Dates Diverge: Russian and Ukrainian Militaries Say Silence From October 27, White House Said October 29
MOSCOW — The Russian and Ukrainian militaries announced separately on October 23 that they would observe a ceasefire silence in the Oleshky direction from October 27, a date that differs from the October 29 start previously announced by the White House. Neither side has explained the discrepancy.
According to CCTV News, General Valery Gerasimov, chief of the Russian General Staff and first deputy defense minister, announced that Russian forces would stop firing and observe a "silence regime" in the Kherson direction from 4:00 a.m. Moscow time on October 27. Ukraine's General
Staff announced the same day a ceasefire in the designated area from 3:00 a.m. Kyiv time on October 27; with a one-hour time difference between Moscow and Kyiv, the two announcements refer to the same moment. The White House said earlier on October 23 that the ceasefire would begin on October 29, with both sides agreeing to temporarily stop all military action in Oleshky to allow humanitarian supplies in and to arrange civilian evacuation through a designated safe passageway.
Oleshky, on the left bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region, has been under Russian control since 2022. Citing White House figures, Xinhua reported that the town's pre-war population was about 24,000, with 1,700 to 2,000 residents remaining, mostly elderly people unable to leave, plus about 50 children; about 90% of the area was flooded after the Kakhovka dam was destroyed. The White House said civilian representatives from non-military departments of both countries would travel to Oleshky together to assess aid needs and provide support and transport to those wishing to leave, but the evacuation route has not been disclosed, beyond the White House's statement that evacuees could choose to go to Russia or Ukraine. Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said on October 18 that Kyiv wanted residents to be able to evacuate directly to Ukrainian government-controlled territory rather than passing through Russian-occupied areas first.
Ukraine's chief negotiator for the truce, parliamentary human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets, said mines along the roads into Oleshky would be cleared first, before aid deliveries and evacuations. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian military was coordinating the truce's duration and that the evacuation would take at least several days.
GSM reported the White House statement on October 23 and the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's confirmation on October 24 — at which point the two militaries were still "working on implementation dates." The October 27 dates announced by the militaries on October 23 are the new information from that coordination, but they conflict with the White House's October 29 date, leaving the evacuation's actual start time to be further clarified. (GSM, from Xinhua and CCTV News, October 23, as compiled by Sina News, October 24)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：乌克兰赫尔松市景，资料图。 / A view of Kherson, Ukraine (file photo).
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