Ukraine evacuates residents from Russian-held Oleshky

Approximately 25 buses and ambulances entered Oleshky on Friday to transport civilians out of the Russian-held city. This marked the first joint relief operation in the conflict since the war began in February 2022. The convoy arrived to deliver food and medicine while evacuating residents who wished to leave.

The population of Oleshky has dropped to about 2,000 people, including roughly 50 children. For months, residents faced severe shortages of food and medical supplies. Many survivors described subsisting on one cup of rice or buckwheat per day, occasionally supplemented by tomatoes, cucumbers, or wild plants. Authorities and volunteers warned that the remaining population faced risks of starvation.

A localized ceasefire in the southern Kherson region allowed engineers to clear mines from the roads leading out of the city. This de-mining effort made the evacuation possible. Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian presidential office, confirmed via an online post that the humanitarian operation was underway. He was not present in Oleshky during the operation.

Davyd Arakhamia, a lawmaker in President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, traveled with the delegation to the city. He confirmed that some evacuees were boarding buses for the southern Russian city of Anapa. From there, the plan involves flying to Belarus and then taking buses across the border into Ukraine’s Chernihiv region. Earlier reports indicated that more than 500 people wanted to move to Ukrainian territory, though the final headcount for the convoy remained unclear.

Residents gathered in heavy rain to wait for the main convoy. Footage shared on social media showed tearful locals embracing delegation members. One woman, identified only as Anna, told a delegation member on video that she and her son were ready to leave. She stated, “Yes, we are on bus 20, my son is on bus 17. To Ukraine.”

Several hundred people, mostly older residents, chose to remain in the city. Ksenia Arkhipova, a volunteer who previously lived in Oleshky, said large numbers of Russian military personnel were present. She noted that soldiers were checking empty houses and moving into them. Arkhipova added that Russian forces were pressuring locals to evacuate to Russia rather than Ukraine.

The operation took place under a ceasefire that US First Lady Melania Trump said she helped broker. The Kremlin described the arrangement as a special case that was difficult to extrapolate to the wider search for peace. Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, coordinated the effort on the ground with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova. Lubinets noted that this was the first time since 2022 that a ceasefire had been established across such an extensive stretch of the frontline and maintained for such a duration.

Oleshky was captured by Russian troops in the first days of the full-scale invasion. The city suffered extensive damage and severe flooding after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in June 2023. One resident told Lubinets that many people were staying by their own choice. Lubinets replied that the delegation would ensure humanitarian aid reached the city regardless.