Evacuation of devastated Russian-occupied Oleshky under way as residents choose whether to flee

Russian and Ukrainian authorities have confirmed that an evacuation of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky is under way, under a ceasefire that has been in force across the frontline region of Kherson since Tuesday. The ceasefire, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump, has allowed Russian sappers to begin demining the road out of Oleshky since Tuesday. It is the first period of peace in the Kherson region since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and is due to remain in force until the end of Sunday 1 November. Residents who wish to leave have a four-hour window to do so. An evacuation convoy of 25 buses will allow up to 750 people to depart Oleshky until 14:00 (12:00 GMT), with ambulances available for people with limited mobility. Despite widespread devastation and the absence of gas, electricity and running water, several hundred people are understood to have decided to stay in the town. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said everyone who wishes to leave will be given the opportunity to do so safely, while those who decide to remain will stay and receive all necessary humanitarian assistance. The route out is circuitous. Although Ukrainian territory lies 5km (3.1 miles) from Oleshky, evacuees will first have to travel into Russian-occupied territory and then to the southern Russian city of Anapa. There, they will board a Russian government plane to Gomel in Belarus, before driving across the border into Ukraine's Chernihiv region. Others are expected to choose to remain in Russian-occupied territory. Lubinets and his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, have worked closely together to ensure the safe evacuation of Oleshky residents. The two ombudsmen travelled to the town together on Friday. Lantratova later posted a video on social media 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 videos posted by his own social media account, 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." Russia said on Thursday that it had prepared dozens of tonnes of aid for residents who do not wish to leave, including food, medicine, hygiene products and fuel for generators. The difficulty of the choices facing residents was illustrated by accounts given to the BBC. Olena, who now lives in Kyiv, said her grandmother and wider family in Oleshky are staying behind, and that one resident refused to leave because they would not take her animals. "The older generation does not want to leave," Olena said, adding that she had barely managed to persuade her father to come, and only because she had just had a baby whom he would otherwise never see. Her grandmother's sister died in Oleshky last winter after stepping on a landmine covered in snow, Olena said. Locals transport all wounded and dead people in Oleshky to the hospital and the hospital's morgue in garden wheelbarrows.