Hundreds evacuated from Russian-occupied Oleshky during rare Ukraine ceasefire

Hundreds of residents of the devastated Russian-occupied city of Oleshky have been evacuated, Russian and Ukrainian authorities have said, following a humanitarian ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.

• Publicado em 30 de outubro de 2026, 10:32 GMT.
• The city is alive': A brief peace in Kherson, but residents fear what comes nextPublished1 day ago.

Figure caption, Watch: How will the evacuation of Oleshky unfold.

Tudo se desenrolou sem incidentes, e ambos os lados observaram o alto nível de organização," disse a ombudsman de direitos humanos da Rússia Yana Lantratova.

Ukrainian authorities confirmed the evacuees were on their way to southern Russia, from where they will travel on to Ukraine through Belarus.

Melania Trump said that "all elements of the convoy, including the safe passageway in and out of Oleshky, was established through mutual agreement between Russian and Ukrainian leaders.

Falando com jornalistas na sexta‑feira à noite, Lantratova fez um pedido conjunto com sua contraparte ucraniana “para a Primeira Dama dos EUA... que missões humanitárias como esta, entregando ajuda aos residentes necessitados, sejam conduzidas regularmente sob a coordenação da Sra.

A ceasefire - the longest and most widespread since the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 - has been in force in the entire frontline region of Kherson since Tuesday, allowing for the road out of Oleshky to be demined.

Residents who wished to leave had a four-hour window to do so on Friday. A convoy of 25 buses was brought in to allow up to 750 people to leave the town until 14:00 (12:00 GMT), along with ambulances for people with limited mobility.

Várias centenas de pessoas entenderam que decidiram permanecer, apesar da devastação generalizada e da falta de gás, eletricidade e água corrente.

Everyone who wishes to leave Oleshky will be given the opportunity to do so safely," Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Friday morning.

Ao mesmo tempo, aqueles que decidirem permanecer poderão ficar e receberão toda a assistência humanitária necessária.

Ukrainian military positions lie 5km (3. 1miles) from Oleshky, but the evacuees will first have to travel into Russian-occupied territory and then to the southern Russian city of Anapa.

They will board a Russian government plane to Gomel in Belarus, and then drive across the border into Ukraine's Chernihiv region.

Outros se espera que escolham permanecer no território ocupado pela Rússia.

Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova travelled to Oleshky together on Friday, setting off from Armiansk, in the Russian-occupied Crimean peninsula.

Lubinets é o primeiro oficial ucraniano desde o início da guerra a visitar as partes da Ucrânia ocupadas pela Rússia. Ele também será o primeiro a visitar a Rússia quando conduzir os evacuaristas de volta à Ucrânia no sábado.

The Oleshky ceasefire has required close cooperation with Lantratova, which Lubinets said he carried out in the interests of saving lives.

But some in Ukraine have recoiled at the sight of him standing beside a representative of the Russian occupying power which has killed so many of the city's residents and made life unbearable for the rest.

Fonte da imagem, Reuters Legenda da imagem, Os residentes viajaram de Oleshky em convoy para Armyansk, na Crimeia ocupada pela Rússia.

Both Lubinets and Lantratova posted videos from Oleshky on their social media channels, saying people were given the chance to form two groups depending on whether they wanted to be taken to Russian-controlled territory or to Ukraine.

In one video, Lubinets can be seen meeting tearful locals. "The problem is that a lot of people are staying," he can be heard saying. "I was told that it was their own choice, we will do everything possible for the humanitarian aid to arrive.

A Rússia disse na quinta‑feira que havia preparado “dozens of tonnes” de ajuda para os residentes que não desejam sair, incluindo alimentos, medicamentos, produtos de higiene e combustível para geradores.

An Oleshky resident told the BBC she had decided against leaving because "they wouldn't take my animals, so that's it.

Olena, who now lives in Kyiv, said her grandmother and wider family in Oleshky were also staying behind.

The older generation does not want to leave," she told the BBC. "I've barely managed to persuade my father - and only because I've just had a baby, who he would never see otherwise.

Olena's grandmother's sister died in Oleshky last winter.

She lost her legs after stepping on a landmine, covered in snow... People took her to the hospital in a garden wheelbarrow," Olena said.

É assim que os moradores transportam todos os feridos e mortos em Oleshky para o hospital e a morgue do hospital: em carrinhos de jardim.

Image source, ReutersImage caption, Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova spoke to journalists before arriving in Oleshky.

O cessar-fogo deverá estar em vigor até o final de domingo, 1 de novembro. Ele tem proporcionado os primeiros dias de paz na região de Kherson desde o início da invasão em grande escala da Rússia na Ucrânia em fevereiro de 2022.

Residents of Kherson told the BBC they were "overjoyed" by the ceasefire. However, they are concerned the truce has given Russia time to build up its military presence on the banks of the Dnipro river, which could result in a renewed assault once the ceasefire expires.

Na sexta-feira, o Kremlin deixou claro que o sucesso do cessar‑fogo de Oleshky não deve ser interpretado como disposição de estender a trégua ao restante da Ucrânia.

A handful of foreign journalists have been invited to witness the evacuation of the town, which Moscow is expected to present as a humanitarian mission conducted with mercy to protect the people of Oleshky.

Many Ukrainians suspect Russia's real intention is to earn credit with the White House, and to provide US President Donald Trump with a boost ahead of next week's midterm elections.

Truce begins in Ukraine city where residents ate weeds to survive.

Em números

• Ukrainian military positions lie 5km (3