Hundreds of residents were evacuated from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky on Friday under a humanitarian ceasefire brokered by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump, Russian and Ukrainian authorities said.
"Everything unfolded without any incidents, and both sides noted the high level of organisation," said Yana Lantratova, Russia's human rights ombudsman. Ukrainian authorities said the evacuees were heading to southern Russia and would then continue to Ukraine by way of Belarus.
A convoy of 25 buses was sent in to carry up to 750 people, with ambulances for those who could not move easily. Residents had a four-hour window, until 2 p.m. local time (12:00 GMT), to board. People could choose between a group bound for Russian-controlled territory and one bound for Ukraine.
Several hundred people are understood to have stayed, even though the town has no gas, electricity or running water. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, said anyone wanting to leave would be able to do so safely, and that those remaining would receive humanitarian assistance. In a video posted from Oleshky, he is heard telling tearful locals that many people are staying and that he was told it was their choice.
Russia said on Thursday it had prepared "dozens of tonnes" of aid for those not leaving, including food, medicine, hygiene products and fuel for generators.
Melania Trump said the convoy's arrangements, including safe passage in and out of Oleshky, were set up by mutual agreement between Russian and Ukrainian leaders.
Ukrainian-held territory is 5 km from Oleshky, but evacuees must first travel through Russian-occupied territory to the southern Russian city of Anapa. From there a Russian government plane will take them to Gomel, Belarus, and they will then drive across the border into Ukraine's Chernihiv region.
Lubinets and Lantratova travelled to Oleshky together from Armiansk in Russian-occupied Crimea. Lubinets is the first Ukrainian official to visit Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine since the war began, and is to become the first to visit Russia when he escorts the evacuees back into Ukraine on Saturday. Some in Ukraine have reacted badly to seeing him beside a representative of the occupying power.
One Oleshky resident, who gave her name as Olena and now lives in Kyiv, told the BBC her grandmother and other relatives were staying. She said the family's animals would not be taken, and that older people did not want to go.
The ceasefire has covered the whole Kherson region since Tuesday and allowed the road out of Oleshky to be demined. It is due to run until the end of Sunday, Nov. 1, and is described as the longest and most widespread since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
The Kremlin said on Friday that the Oleshky arrangement should not be read as willingness to extend the truce to the rest of Ukraine. Residents of Kherson told the BBC they were overjoyed by the truce but worried Russia may use it to build up forces on the Dnipro river banks ahead of a possible renewed assault.
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