A family that stayed in occupied Oleshky to care for ill parents reached Ukrainian-controlled territory Oct. 31, joining an evacuation of residents from the Russian-occupied town.
The Kyiv Independent identified them in a Nov. 9 profile as Olha Liutikova, her husband Serhii Samarsky and their son Vladyslav. Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman confirmed residents crossed into Ukrainian-controlled territory that day but did not name the family.
The family told the outlet that caring for Samarsky’s parents kept them in Oleshky. His mother had stage-four cancer, and his father had suffered a stroke. Both died about a year before the family left in October, the profile said.
Liutikova said Russian soldiers took her and Samarsky into custody and kept them in a basement for three days. The family said soldiers occupied empty apartments in its building and launched drones from the residential building. It also told the Kyiv Independent that Vladyslav rarely left home.
The family described winter utility outages and said it used a gasoline-powered generator and flashlights. Their food included vegetables they grew, grains and canned goods, along with packages Ukrainian soldiers delivered by drone, the profile reported.
Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said Oct. 30 that plans included 25 buses with 750 seats and ambulances for people with limited mobility. That was planned capacity. The White House said Nov. 5 that nearly 800 people had left their homes during the operation.
After crossing, the family went to Kyiv and stayed in a hospital, according to the Kyiv Independent. They hoped to settle at Hansen Town, a housing project for displaced people. Liutikova recalled saying, “We’re free,” during the family’s first evening walk in Kyiv.
An ombudsman’s office update on Nov. 7 said some evacuees had completed treatment and gone to relatives, while others continued to receive medical, social and psychological support. Lubinets said he hoped the operation would inform a broader crisis-response mechanism; he gave no date for another mission.
