Oleshky Evacuees Cross Border During Temporary Truce

Residents of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky have crossed into Ukrainian-controlled territory during a six-day humanitarian ceasefire, in what the article describes as a major civilian evacuation and the first truce of its kind in more than four years of Russia’s war. The pause in fighting was reached through mediation involving US First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said evacuees would receive assistance and called for further steps toward de-escalation and peace. The people arriving at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border were exhausted and, according to accounts from residents, had faced severe food shortages. Fighting and drone activity disrupted supply routes, and some residents said food deliveries stopped in May. One elderly evacuee said he had lost 20 kilograms and needed hospital treatment; another, Svitlana Yermakova, said she and others ate grass and squash to survive. She described risking a bicycle journey through minefields to find food for herself and her dog. Leaving Oleshky required a complicated journey: residents travelled by bus through Crimea to Anapa in Russia, flew to Belarus, and then crossed into Ukraine. At their arrival point, officials and local residents welcomed them, while ambulances, tents, meals, tea and medical assistance were available. The ceasefire also enabled de-mining and the delivery of food, medicine and other supplies to the town, and was due to end Sunday evening. Some residents chose to stay in Oleshky, where gas, electricity and running water remain unavailable. Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova said conditions were difficult and that regular humanitarian missions would be pursued with Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets. Oleshky’s pre-war population of about 24,000 had fallen to an estimated 1,700 before the evacuation; officials did not disclose how many people left or stayed. Fighting and drone attacks continued elsewhere along the front.

Residents evacuated from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky crossed into Ukrainian-held territory on Saturday during a temporary, U.S.-brokered ceasefire. The evacuees traveled by bus through Russia to Anapa, flew to Homel in Belarus, and then continued to Ukraine. The ceasefire began Tuesday and was expected to last through Sunday evening. Residents had been offered the choice of leaving for Ukrainian- or Russian-held territory, or staying in Oleshky with replenished food and medical supplies. The number of people who left and the crossing location were withheld to protect those remaining in the city and possible future aid missions. Melania Trump said the convoy could safely evacuate more than 750 people; Pope Leo XIV also urged Russian and Ukrainian leaders to permit humanitarian aid and civilian evacuations. Family members waited at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border alongside aid tents, volunteers, and supplies for evacuees and their pets. Some were hoping to reunite with relatives they had not seen for years. Liza Paliy said she had expected her family’s separation from her father to last only a month or two. Daria Pavlyn described how her father, Mykhailo, remained behind after the family could not arrange care for their home and animals, and later feared attempting the dangerous journey without Russian documents. Although the localized ceasefire enabled the evacuation, fighting continued elsewhere. Russian officials reported Ukrainian drone attacks in Bryansk and Bashkortostan, including a deadly strike in Bryansk, while Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had downed 433 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian drone attacks hit energy and railway infrastructure in several Ukrainian regions, cutting power to 280,000 households. Repair crews were working to restore electricity.

France 24’s “Testimonies from Oleshky” is a short Spotlight segment about people evacuated from Oleshky, a Russian-occupied hometown in Ukraine. The article page identifies American filmmaker Zarina Zabrisky as a journalist who has lived and reported for the past three years in Ukrainian-controlled Kherson, across the Dnipro River from the occupied area. Zabrisky speaks with France 24’s Gavin Lee about events over the preceding 24 hours. The page’s cover caption describes residents of Oleshky crossing the Belarus-Ukraine border in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region after being evacuated from their hometown. The photograph is credited to Efrem Lukatsky for the Associated Press. The segment is listed as 18 minutes and 39 seconds long and was issued on November 1, 2026, though the caption dates the pictured border crossing to Saturday, October 31, 2026. The supplied page text does not include the interview’s detailed testimony or explain the circumstances of the evacuation. It instead provides a brief introduction and metadata; the video itself is not available in the supplied content. Consequently, the article establishes the setting, the people involved in the broadcast, and the evacuation context, but does not support more specific conclusions about what residents experienced or what Zabrisky discussed.