Evacuation operation in Oleschky, Ukraine completed

Ceasefire in the occupied territory Evacuation from Oleschky completed As of: October 31, 2026 • 10:14 a.m

It was the largest joint operation by Ukrainians and Russians since the beginning of the war: people were brought from the front-line town of Oleschky in 25 buses. Some of them have already arrived in Belarus to travel on to Ukraine.

According to Russian information, the evacuation operation in the Russian-occupied southern Ukrainian front-line town of Oleschky has been completed. “We have ended our humanitarian mission in Oleshky,” Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said yesterday evening.

According to the Russian military, the evacuated residents were initially taken by bus to the Black Sea city of Anapa in the southern Russian region of Krasnodar. Those who wanted to travel on to Ukraine were then flown to Gomel in Belarus on Russian military planes. Videos released by the Russian military showed people boarding planes.

According to Belarusian information, the flights have now landed there. People should get to Ukraine by bus via Gomel. The Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinez also traveled with them.

The Ukrainian ombudsman for human rights Lubinez hopes to serve as a role model for other cities. more

In the evening, Lubinez spoke via Telegram of more than 750 people who had the opportunity to leave the city. 25 buses were made available for this purpose. However, it is still unclear how many residents were actually brought from Oleschky.

Russian media quoted Lantratova as saying that part of the population was able to travel to Russia "completely unhindered" and others to Ukraine. Those who could not or did not want to leave the city for various reasons were provided with humanitarian aid. According to her, people are very grateful to both sides.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov spoke of a “good dialogue” that Lantratova and her Ukrainian colleague Lubinets had established. "They're slowly starting to trust each other." This is good and important for human rights work.

It was the largest joint action by Ukrainians and Russians since the war began in February 2022. Lantratova and Lubinets also thanked US First Lady Melania Trump for brokering a ceasefire lasting several days and held out the prospect of possible further humanitarian actions for people in need in frontline cities. The ceasefire for the Kherson region, which is partly controlled by Russia and partly by Ukraine, ends tomorrow evening.

Oleshky is located on the banks of the Dnipro River, which is considered the front line in this region. The area is therefore heavily contested. Oleschky has been occupied by Russia since 2022. Before the war began, around 24,000 people lived here; according to media reports, there were recently around 1,500 to 2,000 residents.

A humanitarian catastrophe has developed in Oleschky in recent months. The city was largely cut off from the outside world for months. According to the UN human rights office, the last regular food shipment there was in May. Over the summer, people lived off what they had grown in their gardens, as ARD correspondent Florian Kellermann reports. Now the supplies were largely exhausted.

This topic in the program: The First | daily topics | Oct 30, 2026 | 10:15 p.m