"We returned from hell." People from Oleshky arrived in Ukraine and share their emotions
Ukrainians from Oleshky crossed the Belarusian-Ukrainian border in Chernihiv Oblast. They were evacuated during a humanitarian mission from the Russian-occupied city the day before. First, they were taken by bus to Anapa, Russia, from there by plane to Belarus, and then by bus to Ukraine, writes the BBC Ukrainian Service.
First words and emotions
"We really wanted Ukraine to come to Oleshky, not for us to come here. It was very scary there... We returned from hell," Olga, who had just stepped off the bus, tells the BBC.
First, pets that people brought with them from Oleshky were brought to the Ukrainian border. Then buses with people arrived.
Footage is appearing on social media showing people being transferred to buses and ambulances. Among the evacuees are many elderly people and bedridden patients. Relatives gathered at the border, waiting for people from Oleshky.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed hope that humanitarian access to the city would remain and people there would be able to receive aid.
He noted that such a rescue operation became possible partly because much was written about the humanitarian catastrophe in Oleshky.
"When there is global attention, there is salvation for people. Further de-escalation steps and a real приближение to peace are also needed," Zelensky said.
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv has yet reported how many people have left for one country or the other.
"There's nowhere to return to"
Olga told the BBC that she decided to leave because it was impossible to stay in Oleshky due to constant shelling, destruction, and food shortages.
"We feared for our lives. It was impossible to even properly bury a person there. I don't want to bury anyone in my garden," the woman said.
However, according to her, many people still remain in the city.
"I am both happy and anxious at the same time. Because there are still people there, whom we also worry about. They asked us - will you come back? But it seems to me that there will be nowhere to return to. There is so much destruction there. There is nowhere to return to," Olga said.
Olga said that in Oleshky, people traveled 18 kilometers through minefields for food.
"People were blown up, maimed, died just to survive. And those who didn't risk going, ate grass. Many people starved," the woman recalls.
At the border of Ukraine with Belarus, relatives and acquaintances waited for the evacuees. People cried upon meeting.
"Thank you that our father managed to be evacuated. We are happy that he managed to leave," one of the women waiting for her father tells the BBC.
"The first thing I'll do is start looking for work. Any work to feed my family. I'm not afraid of work - digging, planting, building," said Mykhailo, who had just left Oleshky.
He says he didn't leave for a long time because he hoped that Oleshky would return under Ukrainian control.
What about people who wanted to go to Russia
Residents of Oleshky who expressed a desire to evacuate to Russia were initially accommodated in a temporary stay point in occupied Simferopol.
"Rooms and hot meals were prepared for them. Doctors, psychologists, and volunteers are working nearby. Doctors conduct examinations and necessary tests," reported Yana Lantratova, the Human Rights Commissioner in Russia.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Health Minister Aleksey Kuznetsov reported that several residents of Oleshky were sent to Simferopol hospitals.
In a video published by Lantratova, it can be seen that at least some of the residents were accommodated in the "Tavriya" hotel. Some residents of Oleshky left with their pets.
The evacuees arrived in Simferopol in annexed Crimea on Friday evening, October 30.
Long road home
On Saturday morning, four planes with evacuated Ukrainians from Oleshky landed in Gomel, Belarus.
Footage on social media shows people being helped off the plane. The video shows many cages and carriers with pets.
People arrived in Gomel from the Russian city of Anapa. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported that residents of Oleshky flew from Anapa by planes of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
They traveled there from Oleshky by bus.
The day before, a humanitarian operation initiated by former US First Lady Melania Trump took place in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky. People suffering from a lack of food and medicine were evacuated from Oleshky.
This was the first joint mission between Russia and Ukraine since the start of the war, led by ombudsmen Yana Lantratova and Dmytro Lubinets. On Friday, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations, along with the evacuated residents, left the city.
"Humanitarian aid has been delivered. The convoys have separated - I am going to Ukraine," Dmytro Lubinets stated on Friday.
Earlier, Russian military correspondents reported from Oleshky that 17 buses with people left for Ukraine via Anapa, and four for Russia. However, there is no independent confirmation of this information yet.
Lubinets also said that the amount of humanitarian aid delivered to the city was "extremely large."
The Ukrainian ombudsman also proposed making humanitarian missions coordinated by former US First Lady Melania Trump regular.
Why not everyone can leave
On Friday, Lubinets published a video from the occupied city where he is met by people who want to leave. In the video, women are crying.
Women in the video say that many people will not leave Oleshky.
Russian ombudsman Yana Lantratova also published a video from Oleshky, where people are crying and talking about hunger. Lantratova showed in the video how those wishing to leave for Russia and Ukraine gather on different sides.
In the video, people can be heard saying that they cannot leave because they are caring for bedridden patients.
Ceasefire mediated by Melania Trump and the Pope
In Oleshky, Kherson Oblast, which is under Russian control, a situation close to a humanitarian catastrophe has developed in recent months.
The city was under constant shelling, and leaving it was practically impossible, as most roads are mined. There is almost no electricity in the city, the water supply does not work, and the last grocery store closed in winter.
In the city on the left bank of the Dnipro, where 24,000 people lived before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, approximately one and a half thousand people remain, including about 40 children.
These are mainly elderly and low-mobility people with serious illnesses, as well as people without documents.
At the end of October, through the mediation of Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a local ceasefire so that residents could leave the city.
The ceasefire in Oleshky is expected to continue until the end of Sunday, November 1.
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