Around 700 residents have been evacuated from Olechky during a six-day local ceasefire negotiated between Kyiv and Moscow. The city, described as a no man’s land on the front line, had been suffering from acute shortages of food and medicine.
The evacuees reached Ukraine on Saturday, October 31, after travelling by bus through occupied Crimea and then by plane to Belarus. Some were in tears, while others appeared stunned and struggled to process their escape. On arrival, many immediately sought out cigarettes and hot soup.
Those who chose to come to Ukraine arrived exhausted, after years of war and occupation and months without water, electricity or medical assistance. They were received in the calmer surroundings of a forest near the Belarusian border.
Olechky lies in southern Ukraine, opposite Kherson on the other side of the Dnieper River. Russian forces occupied the city after capturing the region at the start of the war on February 24, 2022. Following the liberation of Kherson by Ukrainian forces on November 11, 2022, Russian troops withdrew to the opposite bank of the river, leaving Olechky as the first frontline city on the Russian-controlled side, while Kherson became the frontline city on the Ukrainian side.
Some evacuees said they did not know where they would go next, but remained determined to survive.
Sources: Le Monde International.