Ceasefire allows evacuation from devastated Russian-occupied Oleshky
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Ceasefire allows evacuation from Russian-occupied Oleshky
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Figure caption:
Watch: How will the evacuation of Oleshky unfold?
By Dan Johnson, in Kyiv, Olga Malchevska and Laura Gozzi
Published 30 October 2026, 10:32 GMT
Updated 6 minutes ago
Hundreds of residents of the devastated Russian-occupied city of Oleshky have been evacuated, Russian and Ukrainian authorities have said, following a humanitarian ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.
"Everything unfolded without any incidents, and both sides noted the high level of organization," Russia's human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova said.
Ukrainian authorities confirmed the evacuees were on their way to southern Russia, from where they will travel on to Ukraine through Belarus.
Melania Trump said that "all elements of the convoy, including the safe passageway in and out of Oleshky, was established through mutual agreement between Russian and Ukrainian leaders."
A ceasefire - the longest and most widespread since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - has been in force in the entire frontline region of Kherson since Tuesday, allowing for the road out of Oleshky to be demined.
Residents who wished to leave had a four-hour window to do so on Friday. A convoy of 25 buses was brought in to allow up to 750 people to leave the town until 14:00 (12:00 GMT), along with ambulances for people with limited mobility.
Several hundred people are understood to have decided to stay, despite the widespread devastation and the lack of gas, electricity and running water.
"Everyone who wishes to leave Oleshky will be given the opportunity to do so safely," Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Friday morning.
"At the same time, those who decide to remain will be able to stay and will receive all the necessary humanitarian assistance."
Ukrainian territory lies 5km (3.1miles) from Oleshky, but the evacuees will first have to travel into Russian-occupied territory and then to the southern Russian city of Anapa.
They will board a Russian government plane to Gomel in Belarus, and then drive across the border into Ukraine's Chernihiv region.
Others are expected to choose to stay in Russian-occupied territory.
Image source:
Kyrylo Budanov/Telegram
Image caption:
Oleshky residents had a four-hour window to board buses to be evacuated to either Russia or Ukraine
Image source:
Reuters
Image caption:
Residents left in convoy along a road in Armyansk in Russian-occupied Crimea
Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova travelled to Oleshky together on Friday, setting off from Armiansk, in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.
Lubinets is the first Ukrainian official since the start of the war to visit Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. He will also become the first to visit Russia when he escorts the evacuees back into Ukraine on Saturday.
The Oleshky ceasefire has required close cooperation with Lantratova, which Lubinets said he carried out in the interests of saving lives.
But some in Ukraine have recoiled at the sight of him standing beside a representative of the Russian occupying power which has killed so many of the city's residents and made life unbearable for the rest.