Pope Leo XIV, recovering from surgery, calls Putin to urge ceasefire for Oleshky aid and evacuation
Pope Leo XIV telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin on 16 October from the hospital where he was recovering from lung surgery and asked for a ceasefire to allow food and medical aid into and civilians out of the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in Kherson Oblast. The Kremlin's readout said Putin backed the Vatican's humanitarian initiative and that an agreement on cooperation was reached.
Key points
- Pope Leo XIV phoned Vladimir Putin on 16 October from a Rome hospital where he was recovering from lung surgery.
- The Pope asked for a ceasefire to enable delivery of food and medical aid to Oleshky in Kherson Oblast.
- The Pope also asked for a ceasefire to allow the voluntary and safe evacuation of civilians from Oleshky.
- Oleshky has been under Russian occupation since February 2022; about 2,000 people, including nearly 50 children, were reported to remain there in late September with no stable access to food, electricity or water.
- The Kremlin's readout said Putin supported the Vatican's humanitarian initiative and that an agreement on cooperation was reached.
- Russian state agencies also reported that Putin shifted responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe onto Ukraine.
- Russia opposes Vatican participation in broader Kyiv-Moscow negotiations, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
Why it matters
The call is a high-profile diplomatic intervention focused on a single, localised humanitarian crisis in occupied southern Ukraine, and the Pope made the appeal while himself hospitalised after lung surgery — a contrast that drew attention to the situation. The Kremlin's response, including Putin's reported attempt to shift blame onto Ukraine, signals continued Russian resistance to opening humanitarian corridors. Russia's stated opposition to Vatican mediation in wider Kyiv–Moscow talks frames the narrow scope of what such calls can achieve.
What happened
On 16 October, Pope Leo XIV held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, calling from the Agostino Gemelli Hospital in Rome, where he had been admitted on 13 October and had undergone surgery to remove a tumour from the lower lobe of his right lung. During the call, the Pope expressed deep concern over the humanitarian situation in Oleshky, a city in Kherson Oblast that has been under Russian occupation since February 2022, and requested a ceasefire to allow food and medical aid into the city and to enable the voluntary and safe evacuation of its civilian population. He closed the conversation by reaffirming the Holy See's commitment to dialogue and peace. The Vatican issued a press statement summarising the call. The Kremlin's own readout said Putin supported the Vatican's humanitarian initiative to help civilians in Oleshky and that an agreement on cooperation on the matter was reached, while Russian state agencies reported that Putin had shifted responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe onto Ukraine. The call came against a backdrop in which about 2,000 people, including nearly 50 children, were reported to remain in Oleshky in late September with no stable access to food, electricity or water, and Ukraine's ombudsman, foreign minister and the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches had all appealed for international help to evacuate civilians.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
Ukrainian-language coverage uniformly foregrounds Oleshky as the central subject, naming it in headlines and emphasising the Pope's call for a ceasefire and humanitarian access. Several Ukrainian outlets pair the call with reporting on Ukraine's broader diplomatic push, including Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets's statement that Russia is blocking evacuation, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha's appeals at the UN Security Council and the OSCE, and the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches' appeal to the Pope, the UN and the ICRC. Ukrainian titles also highlight the Kremlin's response to the call, signalling interest in how Russia frames its own position.
How international sources describe it
The single US and German articles in the set centre the story on Pope Leo XIV as the main actor, framing the call as part of his post-surgery activity and as a Vatican humanitarian intervention rather than as a Ukraine–Russia confrontation. International headlines foreground the Pope's condition — recovering from lung surgery — and describe Oleshky as a 'Russian-held' or 'front-line' city, with less emphasis on Ukrainian diplomatic actions around the town. Neither international piece elaborates on Ukrainian official appeals or on the drone-based aid deliveries, leaving the broader diplomatic and humanitarian context more compressed than in Ukrainian coverage.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on two points. On the size of the remaining civilian population in Oleshky, the head of the Kherson Oblast Military Administration, Oleksandr Prokudin, cited around 2,000 people including nearly 50 children, while another estimate put the figure at up to 6,000 people including about 200 children in Oleshky and surrounding areas. On Putin's stance in the call, Russian state agencies reported that Putin shifted responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe onto Ukraine, while the Kremlin's own readout said Putin supported the Vatican's initiative to help civilians in Oleshky and that an agreement on cooperation on supplies was reached.
Background
Oleshky lies on the left bank of the Dnipro River, opposite the Ukrainian-held city of Kherson about 9 km away, and has been under Russian occupation since the early days of the full-scale invasion in February 2022. Before the invasion the town had about 24,000 residents; as of late September, Ukrainian authorities put the remaining population at around 2,000, including nearly 50 children, with no stable access to food, electricity or water. No humanitarian food deliveries have reached the town by conventional means since May, prompting Ukrainian military drone deliveries beginning in March and continuing into late September, when about 4,000 kg of supplies were delivered to roughly 100 locations. Ukraine's ombudsman, foreign minister and the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches have publicly appealed for international help to evacuate civilians, including a direct appeal to the Pope, the UN and the ICRC, and Vatican envoy Cardinal Matteo Zuppi visited Moscow at the end of September to press for improvements. Pope Leo XIV is the first American pontiff, elected on 8 May 2025.