Updated

Pope Leo XIV, speaking by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 16, called for a local ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in Kherson region to allow humanitarian aid deliveries and the evacuation of civilians. Around 2,000 residents remain trapped in Oleshky amid severe shortages of food and medicine, and Ukraine's human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets had earlier called the city a death trap, saying Russian authorities failed to uphold previous arrangements for a humanitarian evacuation mission. The Kremlin blamed Ukraine for the crisis but said it backed the Vatican's initiative.