Aid convoy enters Russian-held Oleshky as evacuations begin under US-brokered truce

An aid convoy has entered the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in Ukraine’s Kherson region, and residents who want to leave have begun to be taken out through an opened corridor, according to Al Jazeera, the BBC and Ukrainska Pravda. The operation follows weeks of efforts to organise relief for a town that has been cut off for long periods.

Izvestia reported on Friday that the convoy carried food and medical supplies. Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, and his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, travelled to Oleshky together, Russian state channel Vesti said. Lubinets confirmed on video that he was on the ground, talking to residents about what they need most. Davyd Arakhamiia, who leads the ruling Servant of the People faction in Ukraine’s parliament, said the evacuation and the distribution of aid had started and that the ceasefire was holding.

Lantratova said 25 buses with at least 750 seats were waiting for those wishing to depart, and the BBC added that ambulances were ready for people with limited mobility. The evacuation window was due to close at 2pm local time, or 12:00 GMT.

The route out

The journey will not be direct. The BBC reported that Ukrainian-held territory lies 5km (3.1 miles) from Oleshky, but evacuees must first travel through Russian-occupied land to the southern Russian city of Anapa. From there a Russian government plane will take them to Gomel in Belarus, and they will then cross by road into Ukraine’s Chernihiv region. Ukrainian Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said 527 people from Oleshky would return to Ukrainian-controlled territory, according to Ukrainska Pravda.

Many residents are choosing to remain. The BBC said several hundred are understood to be staying, even though the town has no gas, electricity or running water. “Everyone who wishes to leave Oleshky will be given the opportunity to do so safely,” Lubinets said, adding that those who stay would receive humanitarian assistance. Russia has said it prepared dozens of tonnes of aid for them, including food, medicine, hygiene products and fuel for generators. One resident told the BBC she would not go because she could not take her animals.

Truce and wider war

The localised ceasefire has held since Tuesday, when it began at 03:00 on 27 October, and is due to last until 22:59 on 1 November. The White House says First Lady Melania Trump mediated it after hearing about conditions in the town during the UN General Assembly session in September. The Vatican has offered a different account, saying the pope helped through phone calls with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky, Al Jazeera reported.

The White House described Oleshky as on the brink of disaster, with supplies running dangerously low for up to 2,000 people still there. The town once had about 24,000 residents. The BBC said the truce has brought the first days of peace to the Kherson region since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Outside the truce zone the fighting goes on. Ukrainian officials said Russia hit an industrial site near Kremenchuk while attacking Kyiv and Kharkiv, while Moscow said it struck energy infrastructure, port facilities and cargo vessels it claimed the military used. Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said most of the more than 850 drones sent towards the capital overnight were shot down.

What remains unclear

It is not yet known how many people will finally leave, and Lubinets was heard on video saying that many have chosen to stay. The key question for the coming days is whether the pause survives to its scheduled end on 1 November and whether aid deliveries can continue to those who remain.