Residents seeking Ukrainian-controlled territory set out from Russian-occupied Oleshky on Friday on a planned route through Russia and Belarus, as a local ceasefire allowed a humanitarian operation to proceed.
Ukrainian lawmaker Davyd Arakhamia said on Telegram that evacuees were headed for Anapa in southern Russia. Their itinerary called for an onward flight to Belarus, followed by an overland trip to Ukraine. Oleshky lies across the Dnipro River from Ukrainian-controlled Kherson.
Ukraine’s ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said organizers had 25 buses with seating for 750 passengers and ambulances for the mission. The seat total is capacity, not a tally of people evacuated. Lubinets said older people, people with disabilities and residents unable to care for themselves had priority.
The White House said the mission was intended to carry assistance to people remaining in the city while helping others leave. It cited shortages of food, clean water and medicine, limited electricity, mined roads and regular military attacks. The White House said U.S. first lady Melania Trump helped secure the ceasefire and worked with Russian and Ukrainian leaders on its terms.
The White House estimated 1,700 to 2,000 people remained in Oleshky and said no formal population count had been conducted since 2022. Ukraine’s ombudsman had previously said more than 6,000 might remain in Oleshky and the surrounding area, a broader estimate.
The Associated Press reported that officials had not announced how many residents left. It also reported that two people were killed while crews cleared mines from designated routes. Russian ombudswoman Yana Lantratova said the mission had ended, with convoy groups moving separately toward Ukraine and Russia. Arakhamia said the ceasefire was scheduled to remain in effect through Nov. 1.
