Residents of Oleshky Arrive in Chernihiv Region From Belarus

Reform.news Editorial Team · 31 October 2026, 16:45

https://reform.news/en/residents-of-oleshky-arrive-in-chernihiv-region-from-belarus/

Residents of Oleshky in Ukraine’s occupied Kherson region crossed the Belarusian-Ukrainian border as part of a humanitarian operation to evacuate them. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

According to him, humanitarian aid was delivered to Oleshky and roads were cleared of mines during a ceasefire on the Kherson front. People requiring evacuation were taken out of the city and surrounding community. They are now in Ukraine’s Chernihiv region, where they will receive the necessary assistance.

Zelenskyy thanked the United States and First Lady Melania Trump for their mediation, as well as Ukraine’s defence forces and Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and his team, who took part in organising the mission.

“When the world pays attention, people are saved. Further steps towards de-escalation and real progress towards peace are also needed,” he said.

Lubinets said that the humanitarian operation had been successfully completed. According to him, the ceasefire will remain in effect until 10:59 p.m. on November 1. He described it as the longest since 2022 to have been observed by both sides.

“The mission was made possible thanks to agreements we reached with the Russian Federation’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Yana Lantratova. We went through a difficult process, from negotiations and agreeing on a ceasefire to delivering humanitarian aid to Oleshky and organising the evacuation of civilians,” he said.

The oldest evacuated resident of Oleshky is 94, while the youngest is just over one year old. Pets were also evacuated, including dogs, cats, a parrot and a raccoon.

“I want to tell several stories about the people for whom we went through this difficult process. One of them is the story of a family that was literally surviving in a house in Oleshky that had been destroyed by shelling. Because of his health, the father could not get down from the eighth floor on his own, as the staircase had been destroyed. It is frightening even to imagine the conditions in which this family had to live. The people were effectively trapped, cut off from access to food and water. Today, the worst is over for this family. They are safe.

Another story concerns a man born in Oleshky who survived 16 attacks by Russian drones and four missile strikes on his own home. One of the explosions occurred literally one metre from the wall of his house. Despite everything he had endured, he waited for the opportunity to leave,” he said.

The ombudsman expressed hope that the experience of the operation would help create a mechanism for responding to other humanitarian crises.