Hundreds escape occupied Oleshky after local ceasefire opens route to safety
Hundreds of residents have been evacuated from Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine’s Kherson region, after a local ceasefire allowed a convoy to leave. They reached Belarus on Saturday and were expected to return to Ukrainian territory later that day. The evacuation offers a route to safety for people who had been trapped amid severe shortages and dangerous escape routes.
The ceasefire began on Tuesday and is due to last until the end of Sunday, 1 November, allowing mines to be cleared from the road out. A convoy of 25 buses, with room for 750 people, left on Friday, alongside ambulances; several hundred residents reportedly stayed behind. Oleshky, which had 24,000 residents before Russia’s full-scale invasion, has been without electricity, gas and water for three years.
In short
- Evacuees from Oleshky reached Belarus and were due to return to Ukraine.
- A temporary ceasefire enabled a convoy of 25 buses to leave.
- Several hundred residents reportedly remained in the devastated city.
Explained simply
Oleshky is a city in Ukraine’s Kherson region, on the east bank of the Dnipro River. Russian forces have occupied it since the early stages of Russia’s full-scale invasion, which began in 2022.
The occupation has left residents facing severe shortages of basic services, including electricity, gas and water. Leaving has also been dangerous because roads are mined and fighting continues in the region.
Ukraine and Russia have sometimes agreed to local pauses in fighting to allow people to leave or aid to pass. Such arrangements affect civilians caught between the forces, while control of Kherson region remains part of the wider war.
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Originally published by BBC World as “Evacuees from Russia-occupied city where residents ate weeds on way to Ukraine”.