Evacuations begin in occupied Ukrainian town as Melania Trump-brokered ceasefire holds

Hundreds of people from an occupied town in southern Ukraine who survived months without basic supplies are set to be evacuated on Friday under a ceasefire agreement negotiated by first lady Melania Trump .

The town of Oleshky in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson has been under continuous Russian occupation since April 2022. Some 2,000 people, including 50 children, have been stuck in the badly destroyed municipality, Ukrainian authorities say. All access routes were either heavily mined or swarming with drones, making an escape impossible.

The humanitarian situation has deteriorated in recent months. The town was reported by Ukrainian authorities to have ran out of food and other supplies in September, with no access to electricity, gas, medicine, and other essentials. The dire situation has raised alarm around the world, with international organizations, faith leaders and others calling for urgent action.

Residents have been reportedly resorting to searching for scraps and eating weeds, with bodies of people who died left in the streets.

The temporary truce went into effect on Tuesday and has since expanded across the Kherson region. The ceasefire has also brought relief to Kherson, the Ukraine-controlled capital of the region, which has been under near constant drone attacks from Russia.

It is set to expire on Sunday.

Yana Lantratova/Handout/Reuters

Ukraine’s ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets traveled to Oleshky to personally escort the evacuees into Ukraine-controlled territory – becoming the first high-profile Ukrainian official to openly travel to occupied areas under Russian control and Russia since the start of the war.

“We are in Oleshky,” he said in a statement. “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.”

Evgeniy Maloletka/AP

Lubinets’ Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, was also present in Oleshky and the two were seen in videos standing next to each other while talking to local residents.

The evacuation is scheduled to begin in early afternoon local time. According to Lubinets, 25 buses with the capacity of 750 seats are part of the operation. They are expected to travel through Crimea, Russia and Belarus and arrive to the Ukrainian border at some point on Saturday.

Videos shared by Lubinets’ office show the ombudsman greeting groups of emotional residents in Oleshky, discussing their journey. In one, he is seen talking to people leaving about those who want to stay, telling them, “I was told that it’s their own choice. We will at least make sure that at least some humanitarian aid comes.”

Some 40% of the town’s prewar population of around 24,000 managed to flee to Ukraine-controlled territories when it was still possible early in the war, according to the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based conflict observer. Thousands of others have escaped since then, but many remained, either unable or unwilling to leave.

The town plays an important part in Russia’s military operations in the region. It sits near the banks of the Dnipro river, directly opposite Ukrainian positions.

As the two sides fire at each other, the people in Oleshky are caught in the middle.

All escape routes towards Ukraine gradually disappeared as the Russian occupation intensified.

And while it had previously been possible to flee the city by going deeper into Russia-controlled territory, this has also become impossible in recent months, as fighting intensified and all routes out were either mined or swarming with drones.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of mining the access routes to the town in an effort to stop people from leaving.

根据第一夫人梅拉尼娅·特朗普斡旋达成的停火协议，乌克兰南部一座被占领城镇的数百名居民将在周五撤离，他们此前已在缺乏基本物资的情况下生存了数月。

位于乌克兰南部赫尔松州的奥列什基镇自2022年4月以来一直处于俄罗斯的持续占领之下。乌克兰当局称，约有2000人，其中包括50名儿童，被困在这个损毁严重的城镇中。所有通道要么布满了地雷，要么被无人机严密封锁，使得逃生成为不可能。

近几个月来，人道主义局势持续恶化。据乌克兰当局报告，该镇9月份食品和其他物资告罄，电力、天然气、药品和其他必需品均已中断。严峻的形势引发了全球的关注，国际组织、宗教领袖和其他人士纷纷呼吁采取紧急行动。

据报道，居民们被迫四处寻找残羹剩饭，甚至吃野草，死者的尸体被遗弃在街头。

临时停火于周二生效，此后范围扩大至整个赫尔松地区。停火也让赫尔松——该地区由乌克兰控制的首府——松市松市得以喘息，该市此前几乎一直遭受来自俄罗斯的无人机袭击。

将于周日到期。

Yana Lantratova/路透社/照片提供

乌克兰人权事务专员德米特罗·卢比涅茨前往奥列什基，亲自护送撤离人员进入乌克兰控制区——成为自战争开始以来首位公开前往俄罗斯控制的被占领土和俄罗斯的乌克兰高级官员。

“我们现在在奥列什基，”他在一份声明中说。“想去俄罗斯联邦境内的人聚集在这里，也有想去乌克兰境内的人。每个人都将获得这样的机会。”

叶夫根尼·马洛列特卡/美联社

卢比涅茨的俄罗斯同行亚娜·兰特拉托娃也出现在奥列什基，视频显示两人并肩站在一起与当地居民交谈。

撤离行动计划于当地时间下午早些时候开始。据卢比涅茨称，此次行动共出动25辆巴士，每辆可容纳750人。预计巴士将途经克里米亚、俄罗斯和白俄罗斯，并于周六抵达乌克兰边境。

卢比涅茨办公室分享的视频显示，这位监察员在奥列什基慰问情绪激动的居民，并与他们讨论他们的处境。其中一段视频中，他正在与即将离开的人们交谈，谈到那些想要留下的人，并告诉他们：“我听说这是他们自己的选择。我们至少会确保一些人道主义援助能够送达。”

据总部位于美国的冲突观察机构“战争研究所”称，战前该镇约2.4万人口中，约有40%的人在战争初期趁着逃亡机会逃往乌克兰控制区。此后，又有数千人逃离，但仍有许多人留了下来，他们要么无力离开，要么不愿离开。

该镇在俄罗斯在该地区的军事行动中扮演着重要角色。它位于第聂伯河岸边，正对着乌克兰阵地。

双方交火之际，奥列什基镇的居民被夹在中间。

随着俄罗斯占领的加剧，通往乌克兰的所有逃生路线逐渐消失。

虽然以前可以通过深入俄罗斯控制区逃离这座城市，但近几个月来，随着战斗加剧，所有出口道路要么布满地雷，要么被无人机包围，这种逃离方式也变得不可能了。

乌克兰总统泽连斯基指责俄罗斯在通往该镇的道路上埋设地雷，试图阻止人们离开。