Civilians Begin Leaving Besieged Ukrainian City of Oleshky
For thousands trapped in Russian-held Oleshky, a route out has opened after months of shortages and dangerous, mined roads. A joint humanitarian operation be...
For thousands trapped in Russian-held Oleshky, a route out has opened after months of shortages and dangerous, mined roads. A joint humanitarian operation began evacuating residents from the southern Ukrainian city as aid deliveries reached those who remain.
About 2,000 people, including roughly 50 children, were still in the heavily damaged city, Ukrainian authorities said. A convoy of 25 buses and ambulances brought food and medicine and offered residents the choice of going to Russia or Ukrainian-controlled territory.
Convoys split toward Russia and Ukraine
Officials from both sides were in Oleshky to oversee the operation. Ukrainian lawmaker Davyd Arakhamia said the evacuation and distribution of aid had started. Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, also said he was coordinating the mission.
The departing groups took different routes. Russian human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova said buses carrying evacuees had reached Armiansk in occupied Crimea, where the convoy was due to divide. Some residents were headed to Russia; others were to travel toward territory controlled.
The route for those going to Ukraine is lengthy despite the front line being only about 5 kilometers from Oleshky. They were expected to travel through the Russian city of Anapa and Belarus before crossing into Ukraine’s Chernihiv region.
Ceasefire opens access roads
A localized ceasefire in the Kherson region enabled routes out of the city to be cleared of mines. The temporary truce, brokered with the involvement of U.S. first lady Melania Trump, allowed aid workers and officials to enter after access had been blocked by mines and drone threats.
Oleshky sits across the Dnipro River from Kherson and has been under Russian occupation since 2022. Residents have faced severe shortages of food, water and medicine for months. Former residents said some people had resorted to hunting pigeons for food.
The operation is the first joint relief effort of its kind in four years and eight months of war. Its immediate test is whether residents who want to leave can safely complete the separate journeys out of the besieged city. Arakhamia said the Ukrainian delegation and evacuated residents had set off toward Ukrainian-controlled territory.
