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Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone with President Volodymyr Zelensky on October 19, three days after calling Russian President Vladimir Putin to urge a humanitarian ceasefire allowing civilians to leave the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in Kherson region. Ukraine's parliamentary human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said Kyiv and Moscow are nearing a deal on a local ceasefire to evacuate roughly 6,000 residents, including up to 200 children, directly to Ukrainian-controlled territory. The pope expressed hope that aid could reach the town and that an evacuation could proceed safely, as civilians there face severe shortages of food and medicine with no safe way out under current conditions.