UPDATE 1 — Pope Leo urges Putin to allow aid to occupied Ukrainian town
(Adds further detail from paragraph 3) By Joshua McElwee VATICAN CITY, Oct 16 (Reuters) — Pope Leo urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Friday for a ceasefire to allow aid and food supplies to enter the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky, the Vatican said. Leo also expressed "deep concern" for the humanitarian situation in the town, taken by Russian forces in February 2022, and which faces a deepening food crisis, the Vatican said. Leo and Putin are known to have spoken once previously, in June 2025. The pope also reaffirmed the Holy See's commitment to any initiatives for peace, the Vatican said. The pope, 71, is recovering at Rome's Gemelli hospital after surgery for lung cancer. The Vatican said earlier on Friday that he is showing steady improvement and is able to work and do normal daily activities. Russia has acknowledged critical problems with food and medical supplies in Oleshky and said its military was working to resolve them. It blamed Ukraine for the crisis, saying it was obstructing those supplies getting to the town. Oleshky, in Ukraine's Kherson region, had a pre-war population of some 24,000, and is still home to around 1,700 residents,
(Adds further detail from paragraph 3) By Joshua McElwee VATICAN CITY, Oct 16 (Reuters) — Pope Leo urged Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call on Friday for a ceasefire to allow aid and food supplies to enter the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky, the Vatican said. Leo also expressed "deep concern" for the humanitarian situation in the town, taken by Russian forces in February 2022, and which faces a deepening food crisis, the Vatican said. Leo and Putin are known to have spoken once previously, in June 2025. The pope also reaffirmed the Holy See's commitment to any initiatives for peace, the Vatican said.
The pope, 71, is recovering at Rome's Gemelli hospital after surgery for lung cancer. The Vatican said earlier on Friday that he is showing steady improvement and is able to work and do normal daily activities. Russia has acknowledged critical problems with food and medical supplies in Oleshky and said its military was working to resolve them. It blamed Ukraine for the crisis, saying it was obstructing those supplies getting to the town.
Oleshky, in Ukraine's Kherson region, had a pre-war population of some 24,000, and is still home to around 1,700 residents, including 47 children, according to Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. (Reporting by Joshua McElwee, editing by Gianluca Semeraro and David Gregorio) ((mailto:joshua.mcelwee@thomsonreuters.com;)