Oleshky Evacuees Reunite After Six-Day Truce — SkimNews
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- Oleshky was covered by a six-day ceasefire reached through United States mediation, the longest local pause in fighting since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022; officials used the pause to de-mine roads and resume food, medicine and other aid deliveries.
- Ukraine received the evacuees in the Chernihiv region after they traveled by bus through Crimea to Anapa, flew to Belarus and crossed the border; the evacuees reunited with family members, with ambulances on hand and military tents providing hot meals, tea and medical aid.
- Svitlana Yermakova said residents had to eat grass and squash and that she rode a bicycle through minefields to reach a nearby village for food for herself and her dog.
- Oleshky counted about 24,000 residents before the war and an estimated 1,700 before the evacuation, while Ukrainian officials did not disclose the exact numbers evacuated or still in town.
- Yana Lantratova said the current mission had ended but Russian and Ukrainian officials had agreed to conduct regular humanitarian missions; some residents remained despite the lack of gas, electricity and running water.
- Zelenskyy said all evacuees would receive the assistance they needed and called for further de-escalation and real progress toward peace.
- Russia continued drone attacks against Ukraine elsewhere on the front even as the Oleshky ceasefire held, with the truce due to end Sunday evening.
Why it matters: For residents of a town reduced from about 24,000 people before the war to an estimated 1,700 before the evacuation, the operation delivered food and medical aid. Its limits are equally stark: officials have not disclosed how many remain, services are still absent and the truce is due to end Sunday evening, though both sides agreed to regular humanitarian missions.
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