KYIV: Some residents of Oleshky, a Russia-occupied town in southern Ukraine ravaged by food and medicine shortages, left on Friday during a rare ceasefire brokered by the United States.
Captured by Russia in 2022 and caught in the “kill zone” near the front line, residents had faced supply shortages for months, with some being forced to hunt and eat pigeons, former residents said.
The fragile ceasefire -- announced by US First Lady Melania Trump last week to pave the way for evacuations and humanitarian aid deliveries -- is due to end on Sunday evening.
Ukrainian and Russian officials visited the town together on Friday, delivering aid and marshalling those who wanted to leave.
After hours there, both sides said they had left with convoys of people -- some heading to Russia, others on a journey back to Kyiv-controlled parts of Ukraine via Russia and Belarus.
“The Ukrainian delegation, along with the evacuated residents of Oleshky, set off for Anapa,” Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said, referring to a Russian southern city on the Black Sea coast.
“From there, they will fly to Belarus and then travel home by bus,” Arakhamia said. Moscow said the operation had been completed “without any incidents”.
“The humanitarian mission in Oleshky is concluding,” Russia’s human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova said in a video post on Telegram.
“Everything went smoothly,” she said, saying 25 buses and nine ambulances had been deployed for the evacuations.
Neither side disclosed how many people left.
The pre-war population of Oleshky has dropped from 24,000 to about 2,000.
Now in its fourth day, the truce is the longest pause in fighting anywhere on the front line since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets posted videos of himself talking to locals, several of whom thanked him, crying and wiping tears.
Groups of residents were seen waiting outside their buildings with bags of belongings ready to leave.
“We’ve been through so much here in these five years,” one woman said in images broadcast on Ukrainian TV.
“If we had our health, maybe we’d stay there a bit longer, but that’s it. We just want to be with our children,” said another elderly woman preparing to evacuate.
Refinery attacks
Previous partial ceasefires between Ukraine and Russia -- for instance, around Orthodox Easter -- have been marred by accusations of violations.
The respite has also given residents in the major southern Ukrainian city of Kherson relief from daily drone attacks.
The truce has held despite unabated attacks elsewhere in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Russia said Ukraine had resumed its attacks on oil refineries after a brief pause following criticism of the strike campaign by US President Donald Trump.
Videos on Russian Telegram channels showed smoke billowing from an oil refinery in Samara region, following a drone attack overnight.
Published in Dawn, October 31st, 2026
