Oleshky Residents Board 25 Buses as Ceasefire Opens Route Out of Occupied Kherson Town

About 2,000 people, including 50 children, have spent months in Oleshky without food, medicine, electricity or gas, with bodies left in the streets and residents eating weeds. The town, occupied by Russian forces since April 2022, sits on the Dnipro river opposite Ukrainian positions, and every route out was mined or patrolled by drones, Ukrainian authorities said. Evacuation buses were scheduled to begin loading in early afternoon local time.

The temporary truce that made the evacuation possible took effect Tuesday and has since expanded across the Kherson region. It also eased pressure on Kherson city, the regional capital under Ukrainian control, which has faced near constant Russian drone attacks. The agreement is set to expire Sunday.

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's ombudsman, went to Oleshky to escort residents out. He said people choosing to travel to Russian-controlled territory and those bound for Ukraine were gathering in the town, and that both groups would be given the option. "People who want to go to the territory of the Russian Federation are gathering here, and there are people who want to leave for the territory of Ukraine. Everyone will be provided with such an opportunity," he said in a statement. Yana Lantratova, his Russian counterpart, was also in Oleshky, and videos showed the two standing together while speaking with residents.

Lubinets' office said 25 buses with 750 seats were assigned to the operation. The vehicles were to travel through Crimea, Russia and Belarus, arriving at the Ukrainian border on Saturday. Videos released by his office showed him greeting groups of residents. In one, he discussed people who intend to remain in Oleshky: "I was told that it's their own choice. We will at least make sure that at least some humanitarian aid comes."

Oleshky's prewar population was about 24,000. The Institute for the Study of War, a US-based conflict observer, said roughly 40% fled to Ukrainian-held territory early in the war when escape was still possible. Thousands more left later, while others stayed because they could not go or chose not to. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of mining access routes to prevent departures.