Ukraine Seeks New Route to Evacuate Oleshky Residents
The Human Rights Commissioner's Office is verifying details for a second evacuation after 800 people left during a recent ceasefire.
By Aiko Nakamura ·
The Office of the Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner is arranging a new evacuation corridor for residents of Oleshky in Kherson Oblast.
Dmytro Lubinets, the commissioner, stated that the office is responding to ongoing requests from people in the Oleshky hromada who wish to leave. He noted that residents are increasingly seeking to move to territory controlled by the Ukrainian government after witnessing the success of the previous humanitarian mission.
Staff are currently compiling a list of interested individuals. They are verifying each person's location, health status, mobility, and family composition. The team is also checking for valid documents and determining if medical or specialized transport is required.
Lubinets said the office is prioritizing specific groups. These include the elderly, people with limited mobility, individuals with disabilities, those with serious illnesses, and families with children.
A second evacuation route requires agreed-upon humanitarian and security measures. Lubinets said that once a safe mechanism is established, the relevant parties will be notified.
The current effort follows a temporary ceasefire that allowed nearly 800 people to leave Oleshky on November 2. U.S. First Lady Melania Trump announced that figure at the time. Under the agreement with the Russian side, Ukrainian authorities will not disclose the exact number of residents who returned to Ukrainian control versus those who stayed in Russian-controlled territory.
Lubinets reported that he has discussed the Oleshky model with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova. They agreed to ask Trump to expand this humanitarian mission to other settlements facing dire conditions.
