Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky reach Ukraine under rare Kherson truce

Civilians evacuated from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky crossed into Ukrainian-controlled territory on Saturday, completing a roundabout journey through Russia and Belarus made possible by a temporary ceasefire in the southern Kherson region, PBS NewsHour and BBC News reported.

The Associated Press, in a report carried by PBS NewsHour, described the pause in fighting as the most important truce since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion. Both outlets credited U.S. first lady Melania Trump with helping to arrange it. PBS reported that Pope Leo XIV had also pressed both governments to allow aid in and civilians out.

According to both outlets, the truce began Tuesday and is scheduled to end Sunday, Nov. 1. The BBC said the pause let crews clear mines from the only road leaving the city and let relief supplies enter.

PBS reported that people choosing Ukraine were driven to the Russian city of Anapa, put on flights to Homel in Belarus, and then taken by road across the frontier. The BBC said 25 buses able to carry 750 passengers left Oleshky on Friday, accompanied by ambulances for residents who could not walk well. Ukrainian authorities have withheld the total number of evacuees and the location of the crossing, saying this protects people still in the city and future missions, PBS reported.

The outlets gave differing accounts of how many residents stayed behind. PBS put the remaining population at roughly 2,000 and said each person could move to either side's territory or stay with newly delivered supplies. The BBC said it understood that several hundred people had decided not to leave. PBS reported that Russian representative Yana Lantratova said some residents were bused into Russian-controlled areas.

The BBC described people who had gone without food, water or power, some eating weeds from gardens, and said several elderly evacuees had to be carried on stretchers. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, told the BBC the youngest evacuee was 1 and the oldest 94. Both outlets described emotional scenes as relatives separated for years were reunited at the border.

Lubinets entered Oleshky together with Lantratova, the BBC reported, making him the first Ukrainian official to set foot in occupied territory since the invasion; some Ukrainians objected to the joint appearance. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said "all of them will receive the assistance they need," according to the BBC.

The war went on outside the truce zone. Zelenskyy said Russian drones struck power and railway sites overnight, cutting electricity to 280,000 homes across the Kyiv and Dnipro areas, PBS reported. In Russia, the Bryansk regional governor said a Ukrainian drone killed two people. The BBC reported that negotiators from Kyiv, Moscow and Washington plan to meet again in Abu Dhabi early next month for further talks on a broader ceasefire.

Compiled by True News from reporting by PBS NewsHour and BBC News. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/643