Residents of temporarily occupied Oleshki who agree to leave the town during the agreed ceasefire will first be taken to Crimea or Russia. After that, they will be able to return to Ukraine, the Financial Times reports, citing its sources.
Oleski is located in the Kherson region, and the plan to evacuate civilians is part of a humanitarian mission. The exact number of people who can leave the city, or when the transportation itself will begin, has not been specified.
The regime of silence lasts until November 1
The ceasefire began at 3:00 Kyiv time on October 27 and will last until 22:59 on November 1. The agreement is related to the delivery of humanitarian aid and preparations for the evacuation of civilians from Oleshki.
Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubynets confirmed the start of the regime and stated that the parties are complying with the agreements reached by the heads of the negotiating groups. According to him, the mission is being carried out jointly with the Russian Commissioner for Human Rights Yana Lantratova, with the mediation and coordination of Melania Trump. The Russian Defense Ministry also confirmed that the ceasefire in the Kherson direction had been reached.
“As part of the initiative of US First Lady Melania Trump to unblock Oleshki, today at 3:00 a.m. Kyiv time, the largest-scale regime of silence began on the largest section of the front in southern Ukraine,“ said the leader of the “Servant of the People” parliamentary group David Arakhamia. He indicated that the regime would last until 10:59 p.m. on November 1 and described it as the largest de-escalation since 2022.
Warning of possible redirection to Russia
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russia could demine the area in a way that would direct the residents of Oleshki to Russian territory. According to him, this could give Moscow the impression that thousands of Ukrainians are voluntarily wanting to leave for Russia.
The new scheme, described by the Financial Times, envisages residents first being transported through Crimea or Russia, and only then being given the opportunity to return to Ukraine. At the moment, no details have been publicly announced about the route, the number of evacuees, or the specific deadlines for the operation.
Sources: unian.net, interfax.com.ua, radiosvoboda.org