Oleshky Evacuation Begins
A local ceasefire that Melania Trump says she helped broker lets a joint Russian-Ukrainian convoy bring food in and take residents out of a Russian-held town.
A street of single-storey houses in Oleshky, in the Kherson region of Ukraine, April 2016.Illustration by The Good Times, based on a photo by Dmytro Petishkin / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Residents of Oleshky, a Russian-held town on the Dnipro River opposite the Ukrainian city of Kherson, began leaving in a convoy run jointly by Russia and Ukraine, the first relief operation of its kind in four years and eight months of war. The convoy of 25 buses and ambulances also brought food and medicine to a town where about 2,000 people remain. A local ceasefire made the operation possible. Melania Trump says she helped broker it. Ukrainian-held land is about three miles away, but evacuees bound for Ukraine must travel through Russia to Anapa, fly to Belarus and then cross by bus into Ukraine's Chernihiv region. How many people left has not been settled. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, ran the operation with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova. He called it the first ceasefire since 2022 to hold so long across so wide a stretch of front. The Kremlin said the case should not be read as a sign of wider peace.
People living in Oleshky, a Russian-held town on the occupied bank of the Dnipro River opposite Kherson, began leaving in a convoy run jointly by Russia and Ukraine. It is the first relief operation of its kind in four years and eight months of war.
The convoy
The convoy of 25 buses and ambulances brought food and medicine into the town and took out residents who chose to leave, some for Russia and some for Ukraine. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, coordinated the operation on the ground with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova. About 2,000 people remain in Oleshky, according to local authorities and volunteers.
The long way home
Ukrainian-held territory lies about three miles from Oleshky, across the river, but the route home is long. Evacuees heading to Ukraine travel to Anapa in southern Russia, fly to Belarus and then cross by bus into Ukraine's Chernihiv region. Davyd Arakhamia, who leads President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's party in parliament and traveled with the Ukrainian delegation, confirmed that residents had left for Anapa. "From there, they will fly by plane to Belarus, and then travel by bus to their homes," he said.
How many people left is not yet settled.
The ceasefire
The convoy moved under a local ceasefire in the area. Melania Trump says she helped broker it. "This is the first time since 2022 that a ceasefire has been established across such an extensive stretch of the frontline and has been maintained for such a significant duration," Lubinets said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described Oleshky as a special case that should not be extrapolated to the wider search for a peace settlement.