Oleshky evacuation: residents to be taken to Russia or Crimea

Residents of occupied Oleshky in the Kherson region are to be evacuated along a safe corridor that, according to a British newspaper, leads to Russia or to occupied Crimea. A Ukrainian representative said their return to Ukraine would only be discussed later.

“Both countries have agreed to a temporary halt to all military action in Oleshky so that humanitarian aid can be delivered to the town and the evacuation of civilians along the designated safe corridor can be prepared,” the White House said, adding that the truce was brokered by First Lady Melania Trump.

Fear of never getting home

Oksana Pohomiyeva, a Kherson city councillor, told the paper that residents are afraid the Russians may not let them go home afterwards. Oleshky lies opposite Kherson, on the other bank of the Dnipro. “Locals are very worried that the Russians will not keep their promises, will take them to Russia and will not bring them back to Ukraine,” she said, adding that people understand some may want to stay in “Katsapia”, a contemptuous Ukrainian nickname for Russia.

First ceasefire since the invasion began

The White House announced the truce on Friday, and it took effect on the morning of 27 October. Since then both sides have kept the quiet, which, according to the AP agency, is the first time this has happened since Russia's invasion in February 2022.

On Thursday, Ukraine's human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova headed to the town. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the evacuation will not be easy: demining is currently under way around the town.

The humanitarian situation in Oleshky, which Russia has occupied since the start of the war, has deteriorated sharply in recent months. People have no electricity, water or food, and local residents say they are cooking soup from weeds. Before the war the town was home to 24,000 people; now, according to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, about 1,700 residents are surviving there, including roughly 35 children.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz