Residents of occupied Oleshky and nearby settlements returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory on October 31 as part of a humanitarian mission. Those rescued ranged in age from just over a year old to 94, and families were also able to bring their pets.
Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets described the operation and shared the evacuees’ stories.
Their return followed negotiations, an agreement on a ceasefire, the delivery of humanitarian aid directly to Oleshky and arrangements for civilians to leave. According to the ombudsman, the mission was made possible by agreements with Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova, as well as assistance and coordination from US First Lady Melania Trump.
Lubinets separately thanked Volodymyr Zelenskyy for supporting the initiative, Davyd Arakhamia for his involvement in the mission and help in implementing the agreements, and Ukraine’s Defense Forces for observing the agreed security arrangements.
He said the ceasefire would remain in effect until 10:59 p.m. on November 1. The ombudsman described it as the longest ceasefire observed by both sides since 2022.
At one stage of the journey, the Ukrainians and the delegation were in Belarus. Lubinets later announced that the Oleshky residents had crossed the Ukrainian border and that the humanitarian mission had been completed successfully.
The oldest evacuee is 94, while the youngest is just over a year old. One evacuated woman will celebrate her 49th birthday on November 1, now in safety.
Those rescued included a family living in a home in Oleshky that had been damaged by shelling. The father’s health prevented him from getting down from the eighth floor on his own, and the stairs had been destroyed. According to Lubinets, the family was effectively trapped without access to food or water.
Another evacuated man, who was born in Oleshky, had survived 16 Russian drone attacks and four missile strikes on his home. One explosion occurred about a meter from the wall of his house.
The ombudsman also described how people from the village of Tarasivka waited beside a highway for the humanitarian convoy. His office had contacted them in advance, checked their circumstances and helped arrange a meeting point.
One man began preparing to leave two days before the convoy’s planned journey. His health prevented him from reaching Oleshky on his own, so he agreed to wait beside the highway. Another family from Tarasivka later joined the preparations, with their son coordinating their departure.
A family with an underage girl was waiting for evacuation at the same location. The Ombudsman’s Office had received their appeal back in 2025, but a lack of the necessary documents had long prevented them from leaving. Their older daughter and father were waiting for them in Ukrainian-controlled territory.
On October 30, these people spent several hours beside a road sign in the cold rain. As the humanitarian convoy approached, they held up a sign reading “Humanitarian Mission”. The buses stopped, and the ombudsman’s team soon received a message: “We’re on the bus. We’re happy!”
Dogs, cats, a parrot and even a raccoon were evacuated alongside their owners.
Following their return, the Ukrainians are to receive further assistance, medical treatment and other necessary support. In one video shared by Lubinets, a child expressed gratitude for the rescue: “When we were travelling, I was very scared. Then I wasn’t anymore. Thank you.”
The ombudsman expressed hope that the Oleshky mission would provide the basis for a mechanism to respond to other complex humanitarian crises and would not remain an isolated operation.
Lubinets plans to give further details about the operation’s results, implementation of the agreements and next steps to facilitate civilians’ voluntary departure at a press conference on November 2 at 2 p.m.
