KHERSON — An aid convoy has entered the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine, where buses are due to carry up to 750 civilians out during a four-hour window under a temporary ceasefire across the Kherson region.
Twenty-five buses are to take evacuees on a route through Anapa in Russia, then by Russian plane to Gomel in Belarus and on to Chernihiv in Ukraine, the BBC reported. The operation was arranged by Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova.
Lubinets became the first Ukrainian official to visit occupied areas, according to the BBC.
Up to 2,000 people are believed to remain in Oleshky, which had a population of about 24,000 before the war. Two people were killed during demining work, Al Jazeera reported.
The ceasefire, brokered by Melania Trump, has been in force across Kherson since Tuesday and runs until the end of Sunday, November 1. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it an “isolated case,” and Moscow has said the truce cannot be extended to the rest of Ukraine.
Russia’s defence ministry said it had shot down most of more than 850 drones launched by Ukraine.
Sources: BBC News, Al Jazeera
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