Residents evacuated from occupied Oleshky during rare Kherson ceasefire

Hundreds of residents have been evacuated from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky during a rare, US-brokered ceasefire, with evacuees travelling through southern Russia and Belarus before returning to Ukrainian-controlled territory. Russian and Ukrainian authorities said the operation proceeded without incident on Friday. Ukraine’s negotiator David Arakhamia said the Ukrainian delegation and evacuated residents had set off for Anapa, from where they would fly to Belarus and continue by bus.

Russia’s human rights ombudsman, Yana Lantratova, said the humanitarian mission had gone smoothly. The precise number of people who left is unclear. France 24 said neither side disclosed a total, while the BBC reported that 25 buses were available to carry up to 750 people during a four-hour departure window.

Several hundred residents were understood to have remained in the town. The evacuation route required residents to cross Russian-occupied territory before travelling on to Ukraine. The BBC said evacuees were taken from Oleshky to Armyansk in Russian-occupied Crimea, then to Anapa, before boarding a Russian government plane to Gomel in Belarus and crossing into Ukraine’s Chernihiv region.

The ceasefire covers the frontline region of Kherson and is due to end on Sunday evening. The BBC described it as the longest and most widespread pause in fighting since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. The arrangement allowed the road out of Oleshky to be demined before the evacuation.

Oleshky was captured by Russia in 2022 and lies close to Ukrainian military positions, which the BBC said were about 5 kilometres away. The town’s pre-war population of about 24,000 has fallen to roughly 2,000, according to France 24. Reports described shortages of food, medicine, gas, electricity and running water.

Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and Lantratova travelled together to Oleshky and organised separate groups for residents who wanted to leave for Ukraine or remain in Russian-controlled territory. Lubinets is the first Ukrainian official reported to have visited Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine since the start of the war, and he was expected to escort evacuees back through Belarus. The operation also drew political unease in Ukraine because Lubinets appeared alongside a representative of the occupying Russian authorities.

The BBC said he defended the cooperation as necessary to save lives. Residents who stayed were promised humanitarian assistance, and Russia said it had prepared food, medicine, hygiene supplies and generator fuel. The reports describe people making different choices.

Some elderly residents did not want to leave, while one resident told the BBC she would remain because her animals could not be taken. Others chose to go to be reunited with family. The supplied accounts also describe the town’s severe humanitarian conditions and the dangers created by mines and the nearby front.

The truce has held in Kherson despite continuing attacks elsewhere in Ukraine. France 24 reported deadly strikes in Dnipro and Chernihiv, as well as Russian claims of renewed Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries. The evacuation comes ahead of expected Ukraine-Russia meetings with US envoys in the United Arab Emirates, although no date for those talks had been set.