Residents of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky are evacuating under a ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump. The ceasefire took effect Tuesday across the Kherson frontline region.
Up to 750 people have a four-hour window to leave Oleshky in an evacuation convoy of 25 buses and ambulances. The road out was demined by Russian sappers starting Tuesday to allow the evacuation.
Evacuees travel first into Russian-occupied territory, then by Russian government plane to Gomel in Belarus, and finally drive into Ukraine's Chernihiv region. Ukrainian territory lies 5 kilometers from Oleshky.
Several hundred residents have chosen to stay despite widespread devastation and the lack of gas, electricity and running water. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said those who remain "will receive all the necessary humanitarian assistance." Russia said Thursday it prepared "dozens of tonnes" of aid including food, medicine, hygiene products and fuel for generators.
One resident told the BBC she decided against leaving because "they wouldn't take my animals, so that's it." Another woman said her family's older generation does not want to leave. She noted her grandmother's sister died in Oleshky last winter after stepping on a landmine, and locals transported wounded and dead people to the hospital in garden wheelbarrows.
The ceasefire remains in force until the end of Sunday, November 1. It marks the first sustained peace in the Kherson region since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022.