Pope Leo XIV calls Putin from hospital over Oleshky; Kremlin backs Vatican aid plan

Right · 1Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday 16 October, calling for a ceasefire in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in Ukraine's Kherson region. 1 Right · 1The Vatican said the pope "expressed his deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation" in Oleshky and called for a ceasefire to allow food and medical aid in and a voluntary, safe evacuation of civilians. 1 Right · 1The Kremlin said afterwards that Putin had supported a Vatican initiative to help deliver supplies to civilians in the town and was ready to cooperate on it. 2

Right · 1In its statement the Kremlin said the Vatican's intention to help create conditions for the safety of the population and to organise vital supplies "has been supported" and that it "has been agreed to cooperate on this matter"; the reports give no detail on how any ceasefire or aid delivery would work. 2 Mixed · 2The Kremlin said Putin gave the pope "a detailed explanation" of what it called the Kyiv regime's responsibility for the humanitarian situation in Oleshky, and Reuters noted the Kremlin statement did not mention a ceasefire. 3 4 Right · 1Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State, said the call was Leo's own initiative and that the pope wanted "to plead the cause of this besieged city"; Leo and Putin are known to have spoken once before, in June 2025. 4

Right · 2Residents of Oleshky face shortages of food and medication, caught in the crossfire between Russian and Ukrainian troops, and Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of blocking supplies to the town, which Ukrainian forces want to retake. 1 2 Mixed · 2Oleshky, taken by Russian forces in February 2022, had about 24,000 residents before the war and now has around 1,700, including 47 children, according to Danielle Bell of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine; the Daily Mirror reports no food deliveries since May, and Russia has acknowledged critical shortages while blaming Ukraine. 4 5 Left · 1Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, speaking in Warsaw, called the situation in Oleshky "genocide", while Ukraine's human rights ombudsman said Russia leaves residents the choice to "stay and starve to death, leave and risk getting blown on a landmine". 5

Right · 1UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk also denounced a "desperate" situation in the city on Friday and called on Russia to let civilians evacuate. 1 Right · 1The call came as the 71-year-old Chicago-born pope recovers at Rome's Gemelli hospital from Tuesday's operation to remove a cancerous tumour from his right lung; the Vatican's notice was a surprise and suggested he is still working. 1 Left · 1The Daily Mirror reports the 90-minute operation removed the lower lobe of his right lung and that surgery confirmed lung adenocarcinoma. 5

Right · 1Earlier on Friday Leo celebrated mass on the hospital's 10th floor with medical staff, in the first images the Vatican has released since the procedure. 1 Right · 1Doctors say his recovery is progressing normally, with "a steady improvement in his general condition" and normal daily activities done independently, but test results on whether the cancer has spread are still pending and no discharge date has been given beyond an original estimate of about a week. 1 Right · 1He is expected to lead the Sunday Angelus, though a Vatican source would not say whether from the hospital or the Vatican. 1