Evacuation of Russian-occupied Oleshky begins under US-brokered ceasefire

OPA WIRE, Oct 30 (OPA) — The evacuation operation, which concluded at 14:00 GMT, utilized a convoy of 25 buses to transport up to 750 civilians. Ambulances were deployed to assist those with limited mobility, while several hundred residents opted to remain in the city despite ongoing shortages of electricity, gas, and running water. Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, confirmed that those staying behind would receive humanitarian aid, though the city remains under Russian occupation.

Lubinets and his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, coordinated the operation after traveling from Armiansk in Russian-occupied Crimea. The complex evacuation route requires civilians to travel through Russian-occupied territory to Anapa, Russia, before boarding a government flight to Gomel, Belarus, and finally crossing the border into Ukraine’s Chernihiv region. This marks the first time a Ukrainian official has visited Russian-occupied territory since the 2022 invasion.

While the ceasefire has provided a rare period of calm in the Kherson region, local residents expressed concern that the pause may allow Russian forces to consolidate military positions along the Dnipro river. The Kremlin stated on Friday that the localized truce does not signal a broader willingness to extend the ceasefire to other frontlines, emphasizing that the mission is limited to the humanitarian evacuation of Oleshky.

Some residents have refused to leave, citing the inability to transport pets or a desire to remain in their homes. Meanwhile, the diplomatic optics of the mission have drawn scrutiny within Ukraine, where some critics have voiced discomfort over the cooperation between Lubinets and Russian officials. The ceasefire is scheduled to remain in effect until the end of Sunday, November 1.