Residents of the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in southern Ukraine have started leaving through a special evacuation corridor. Both Russian and Ukrainian authorities have confirmed the operation.
The exit is possible because of a ceasefire across the Kherson region. It began on Tuesday and was brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump. Russian sappers used the pause to clear mines from the road out of the city.
Residents who want to leave have a four-hour window, which closes at 14:00 local time (12:00 GMT). Twenty-five buses are carrying up to 750 people. Ambulances are also on hand for those with limited mobility.
The journey is long. Although Ukrainian-held land lies only 5km away, evacuees must first travel deeper into Russian-held territory. They go to the southern Russian city of Anapa. From there, a Russian government plane flies them to Gomel in Belarus. They then cross by road into Ukraine’s Chernihiv region. Some residents are expected to stay in Russian-controlled areas instead.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, and his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, visited Oleshky together on Friday. Lantratova said residents were split into two groups, depending on whether they wished to go to Russian-controlled land or to Ukraine.
Lubinets said everyone who wants to leave will be able to do so safely. Those who stay, he added, will get humanitarian aid. Several hundred people are believed to be staying, even though the town has no gas, electricity or running water. Lubinets voiced concern about the number choosing to remain. He was told the decision was theirs.
Russia said on Thursday that it had prepared dozens of tonnes of aid for those staying. The supplies include food, medicine, hygiene products and fuel for generators.
The reasons for staying vary. One woman told the BBC she would not leave because evacuators would not take her animals. Another resident, Olena, now lives in Kyiv. Her grandmother and other relatives are staying in Oleshky. She said older people do not want to go. She had barely persuaded her father to leave, she explained, and only because she has just had a baby he would otherwise never meet.
Olena also described how bad conditions have become. Her grandmother’s sister lost her legs to a landmine last winter. Neighbours carried her to hospital in a garden wheelbarrow. According to Olena, locals use wheelbarrows to move the wounded and the dead.
The ceasefire is due to end after Sunday, November 1. It has given the Kherson region its first few days of calm since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
