Ukraine Warupdated 1h ago3 min read
MapEvacuation Corridor Opens From Russian-Occupied Oleshky Under Melania Trump-Brokered Ceasefire
“The agreement on establishing a six-day ceasefire and evacuation operation in Oleshky and the surrounding area was brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump”
“under a ceasefire agreement negotiated by first lady Melania Trump.”
Map: © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL · Cropped for layout
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Evacuations begin from Russian-occupied Oleshky under Melania Trump-brokered ceasefire. Ceasefire holds locally, enabling humanitarian aid and civilian withdrawal from the city.
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Oleshky evacuation begins
Residents began leaving the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky as an evacuation corridor opened under a ceasefire in the Kherson frontline region, with the road out demined and a convoy of 25 buses brought in to allow up to 750 people to leave until 14:00. Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets told the BBC, "Everyone who wishes to leave Oleshky will be given the opportunity to do so safely," and he added that those who stayed would receive humanitarian assistance. The evacuation route required evacuees to travel into Russian-occupied territory before reaching the southern Russian city of Anapa, then board a Russian government plane to Gomel in Belarus and drive across the border into Ukraine’s Chernihiv region.
Oleshky had been under continuous Russian occupation since April 2022, and Ukrainian authorities said 2,000 people, including 50 children, were stuck in the badly destroyed municipality. The BBC reported that several hundred people were understood to have decided to stay despite the lack of gas, electricity and running water.
Choice, corridors, and criticism
Lubinets and Russia’s human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova traveled to Oleshky together, and Lubinets said in a statement, "We are in Oleshky," as people gathered to decide whether to go to Russian-controlled territory or Ukraine-controlled territory. The BBC described how Lubinets became the first Ukrainian official since the start of the war to visit Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, and the BBC also said he would become the first to visit Russia when he escorts evacuees back into Ukraine on Saturday. CNN said the temporary truce went into effect on Tuesday and has since expanded across the Kherson region, and it also said the ceasefire was set to expire on Sunday.
The BBC reported that some in Ukraine recoiled at Lubinets standing beside Lantratova, a representative of the Russian occupying power which has killed so many of the city’s residents and made life unbearable for the rest. The ceasefire had been in effect for 54 hours, and "no violations of the ceasefire have been recorded."
Demining, timelines, and risks
The evacuation operation depended on demining, and the BBC said the Oleshky ceasefire has required close cooperation with Lantratova while the road out of Oleshky was demined. VOA said Melania Trump announced that both sides finished demining to ensure passage of humanitarian aid to Oleshky and evacuation of its residents, and it also said the ceasefire was scheduled to remain in effect until November 1. The BBC reported that the ceasefire is due to be in force until the end of Sunday 1 November, and it said the truce provided the first few days of peace in the Kherson region since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
“The ceasefire is due to be in force until the end of Sunday 1 November.”
Residents of Kherson were concerned the truce could give Russia time to build up its military presence on the banks of the Dnipro river, which could result in a renewed assault once the ceasefire expires. VOA warned that William Taylor said there were still "a lot of unknowns," including whether evacuees could get to Ukraine and whether Russia would use the operation for propaganda purposes.