Hundreds of residents of the devastated Russian-occupied city of Oleshky have been evacuated, Russian and Ukrainian authorities have said, following a humanitarian ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.
“Everything unfolded without any incidents, and both sides noted the high level of organisation,” Russia’s human rights ombudsman Yana Lantratova said.
Ukrainian authorities confirmed the evacuees were on their way to southern Russia, from where they will travel on to Ukraine through Belarus.
Melania Trump said that “all elements of the convoy, including the safe passageway in and out of Oleshky, was established through mutual agreement between Russian and Ukrainian leaders”.
Speaking to journalists on Friday evening, Lantratova put out a joint request with her Ukrainian counterpart “to the US First Lady… that humanitarian missions such as this one, delivering aid to residents in need, be conducted on a regular basis under the coordination of Mrs Melania Trump”.
A ceasefire – the longest and most widespread since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – has been in force in the entire frontline region of Kherson since Tuesday, allowing for the road out of Oleshky to be demined.
Residents who wished to leave had a four-hour window to do so on Friday. A convoy of 25 buses was brought in to allow up to 750 people to leave the town until 14:00 (12:00 GMT), along with ambulances for people with limited mobility.
Several hundred people are understood to have decided to stay, despite the widespread devastation and the lack of gas, electricity and running water.
“Everyone who wishes to leave Oleshky will be given the opportunity to do so safely,” Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Friday morning.
“At the same time, those who decide to remain will be able to stay and will receive all the necessary humanitarian assistance.”
Ukrainian military positions lie 5km (3.1miles) from Oleshky, but the evacuees will first have to travel into Russian-occupied territory and then to the southern Russian city of Anapa.
They will board a Russian government plane to Gomel in Belarus, and then drive across the border into Ukraine’s Chernihiv region.
Others are expected to choose to stay in Russian-occupied territory.
Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova travelled to Oleshky together on Friday, setting off from Armiansk, in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.
Lubinets is the first Ukrainian official since the start of the war to visit Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. He will also become the first to visit Russia when he escorts the evacuees back into Ukraine on Saturday.
The Oleshky ceasefire has required close cooperation with Lantratova, which Lubinets said he carried out in the interests of saving lives.
But some in Ukraine have recoiled at the sight of him standing beside a representative of the Russian occupying power which has killed so many of the city’s residents and made life unbearable for the rest.
Both Lubinets and Lantratova posted videos from Oleshky on their social media channels, saying people were given the chance to form two groups depending on whether they wanted to be taken to Russian-controlled territory or to Ukraine.
In one video, Lubinets can be seen meeting tearful locals. “The problem is that a lot of people are staying,” he can be heard saying. “I was told that it was their own choice, we will do everything possible for the humanitarian aid to arrive.”
Russia said on Thursday that it had prepared “dozens of tonnes” of aid for the residents who do not wish to leave, including food, medicine, hygiene products and fuel for generators.
An Oleshky resident told the BBC she had decided against leaving because “they wouldn’t take my animals, so that’s it.”
Olena, who now lives in Kyiv, said her grandmother and wider family in Oleshky were also staying behind.
“The older generation does not want to leave,” she told the BBC. “I’ve barely managed to persuade my father – and only because I’ve just had a baby, who he would never see otherwise.”
Olena’s grandmother’s sister died in Oleshky last winter.
“She lost her legs after stepping on a landmine, covered in snow… People took her to the hospital in a garden wheelbarrow,” Olena said.
“That’s how locals transport all wounded and dead people in Oleshky to the hospital and the hospital’s morgue: in garden wheelbarrows.”
The ceasefire is due to be in force until the end of Sunday 1 November. It has provided the first few days of peace in the Kherson region since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Residents of Kherson told the BBC they were “overjoyed” by the ceasefire. However, they are concerned the truce has given 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.
On Friday, the Kremlin made it clear that the success of the Oleshky ceasefire should not be interpreted as willingness to extend the truce to the rest of Ukraine.
A handful of foreign journalists have been invited to witness the evacuation of the town, which Moscow is expected to present as a humanitarian mission conducted with mercy to protect the people of Oleshky.
Many Ukrainians suspect Russia’s real intention is to earn credit with the White House, and to provide US President Donald Trump with a boost ahead of next week’s midterm elections.
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