Residents leave Russian-occupied Oleshky during US-brokered ceasefire

Some residents of Oleshky, a Russian-occupied town in southern Ukraine, left on Friday, October 30, during a localised ceasefire brokered by the United States in the war between Russia and Ukraine. Russia captured the town in 2022, and it lies in the so-called "kill zone" near the front line. The truce is the longest pause in fighting anywhere on the front since Russia's 2022 invasion.

How the operation unfolded

US First Lady Melania Trump announced the ceasefire last week to enable evacuations and humanitarian aid deliveries. It is due to expire on Sunday evening. On Friday, Ukrainian and Russian officials visited the town together, delivered aid and helped those who wished to leave.

Both sides said convoys had left with residents. Some went to Russia, while others began a journey back to Kyiv-controlled Ukraine via Russia and Belarus. Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said the delegation and evacuees were heading to Anapa, a Russian city on the Black Sea coast, from where they would fly to Belarus and then travel home by bus. Russia's human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova said the operation went without incidents and that 25 buses and nine ambulances were used.

Conditions in the town

Former residents said supplies of food and medicine had been short for months, with some people forced to hunt and eat pigeons. The pre-war population of 24,000 has fallen to about 2,000. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets posted videos of locals thanking him and crying. One woman said they had been through a great deal over five years.

Wider context

The pause has also given residents of Kherson relief from daily drone attacks. Elsewhere in Ukraine, attacks continue: on Thursday a drone strike on a train station in Dnipro killed at least 15 people. Russia says Ukraine has resumed attacks on its oil refineries. Russian, Ukrainian and US envoys are due to meet next month in the United Arab Emirates, though no date has been set.