"We came back from hell": hundreds escape Russian-occupied Oleshky in a rare joint evacuation, then the truce ends

L2Who’s affected

Families: Dasha and Anya Palii sprinted across the tarmac to their father Mykhailo; he promised their mother Zhanna they would finally marry. Olha: "People were stepping on mines, dying and being maimed, all just to survive." Her husband Viacheslav: "We came back from hell." Tetiana and Volodymyr said their home burned down three years ago. An estimated 2,000 civilians were in Oleshky when the truce began (Al Jazeera); BBC says up to 6,000, including 200 children, lived in Oleshky and its surrounding areas, 1,700 in the city itself.

L3Why it’s quiet

Analysis · OVERLOOKED The truce was small and local, and it happened in the final week of the U.S. midterm campaign while the Iran war dominated foreign news. The human stories of the evacuees got much less attention than the diplomacy.

L4Deeper impact

Lubinets became the first Ukrainian official since the start of the war to visit Russian-occupied Ukraine, travelling with his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova; some Ukrainians recoiled at seeing them side by side. Peskov said Moscow viewed the operation positively. Melania Trump: "I hope Oleshky serves as a foundation for lasting peace." Pope Leo hoped it would "lead to new concrete peace initiatives." Ukraine, Russia and the U.S. are due to resume ceasefire talks in Abu Dhabi in early November.

L5Full context

Russia seized Oleshky in the first days of the February 2022 invasion; before the war it had 24,000 people. The city is trapped between the Dnipro River and Russian forces, its bridges are destroyed, and the riverbank is reportedly mined. One resident said he walked through 24km of minefields to escape. Fighting continued elsewhere: on Sunday Russia attacked with 433 drones, a drone killed three people including a 13-year-old girl in Vinnytsia, and Ukraine hit Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region, where a blaze broke out at the Kstovo refinery, Russian media reported. Kherson governor Prokudin warned residents to stay out of "red zones" near the Dnipro.

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