Hundreds evacuated from occupied Oleshky: 'We came back from hell'
After a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine's Kherson region, hundreds of residents of Russian-occupied Oleshky reached Chernihiv in northern Ukraine via Russia and Belarus. Many were reunited with relatives after years apart.
Hundreds of residents evacuated from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in Ukraine's Kherson region arrived in the northern region of Chernihiv on Saturday. The evacuation became possible after a humanitarian ceasefire, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump, brought the first few days of peace to the area in four years. Many evacuees were reunited with loved ones they had not seen for years.
Russia seized Oleshky in the first days of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The city is trapped between the Dnipro River and Russian forces. Up to 6,000 people, including 200 children, were believed to still live in the city and surrounding areas, about 1,700 of them in the city itself.
Escape from the city
Olha lived in Oleshky with her husband Viacheslav and their adult son and daughter until the evacuation. The couple said attempting to flee had seemed dangerous because routes were mined and exposed to drone attacks. When supplies ran low, they tried to find food earlier this month by crossing minefields. Olha said people were stepping on mines, dying or being maimed. Others, afraid to go out, cooked garden weeds to survive.
On Friday, residents had a four-hour window to leave. A convoy of 25 buses for up to 750 evacuees was brought in, along with ambulances for people with limited mobility. The route led through occupied territory to southern Russia, then by air to Belarus, and on Saturday the buses reached a military facility in Chernihiv. Some frail elderly residents had to be carried on stretchers.
What comes next
A couple, Tetiana and Volodymyr, said their home burned down three years ago and they had since lived in a neighbour's abandoned house. The evacuees also worry about those left behind. They now must decide where to go and how to rebuild their lives. Palii said he would look for work, while Olha's family, who have no relatives elsewhere in Ukraine, will stay with acquaintances for an extended period. "If we managed to survive in hell, we'll survive here too," she said.
