2,000 Starving Civilians Escape Russian-Occupied Oleshky as Rare Ceasefire Holds
A rare local ceasefire has allowed around 2,000 trapped civilians to begin evacuating from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in southern Ukraine, marking the first joint relief mission of its kind in nearly five years of war.
Ukrainian, Russian, and US delegations coordinated the humanitarian operation after mine clearance along designated routes, with both sides halting drone attacks as the truce took effect [273031][274138]. The ceasefire, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump, allowed an aid convoy carrying food and medical supplies to reach the starving residents of the front-line town [275310][274760].
Oleshky sits on the Dnipro River, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the larger city of Kherson, which Ukrainian troops recaptured in autumn 2022 [273031]. Russian strikes on the surrounding area had blocked food, water, and medicine from reaching the city for months, leaving residents without basic supplies [275755].
Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and Russian Ombudsman Yana Lantratova spoke with journalists before departing for Oleshky to oversee the evacuation to safe areas during the local ceasefire linked to the humanitarian effort in the Kherson region [274868]. Ukrainian officials said 527 people would be evacuated from the city to areas controlled by Kyiv [274760].
The ceasefire expanded with no violations reported, securing safe passage for humanitarian convoys into the occupied town [272917]. Both Russia and Ukraine reported no breaches of the agreement as the truce was extended [273894]. Hundreds of people were evacuated during the rare ceasefire, though many others stayed in the front-line town despite the dangers [275152].
The cooperation marks a striking exception to the conflict, with the Kremlin calling it a special case [275310]. However, Russian President Vladimir Putin has called Oleshky a "Russian settlement," and the Institute for the Study of War warned that evacuees may no longer have a free choice to return to Ukraine, with those choosing Ukraine likely having to travel through Russia first without public guarantees they will be allowed to leave [274160].