The key facts

  • Evacuation route: Anapa — Gomel — Ukraine, enshrined in the ceasefire agreement
  • Residents are accompanied by Verkhovna Rada Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and representatives of Russian ombudswoman Yana Lantratova
  • The silence regime is in effect from October 27 until 22:59 on November 1; the sides agreed on regular humanitarian missions at least once a month

Route and escort

The evacuation route for residents of Oleshky, provided for by the ceasefire agreement around the city, has become known. As DW reported, citing a document, part of whose pages was published by the Fox News channel on October 28, those wishing to reach territory controlled by Ukraine will first be taken to Anapa in Russia, then by a Russian Defense Ministry plane to Gomel in Belarus, and then handed over to Ukraine.

Who is accompanying and how the ceasefire is being observed

The evacuees will be accompanied by Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, two employees of his office and two Ukrainian journalists. Along with them, representatives of the Russian ombudswoman Yana Lantratova and members of the group coordinating the humanitarian mission are traveling to Belarus. On the morning of October 28, the ombudspersons of both sides stated that no violations had been recorded in the 30 hours since the ceasefire began; according to Lubinets, the sides are in constant contact and coordinating the implementation of the agreements. He also thanked US First Lady Melania Trump for her participation in the humanitarian mission.

Timelines and agreements on regular missions

The ceasefire regime around Oleshky came into effect on October 27 at 03:00 Kyiv time and is to last until 22:59 on November 1. During this time, humanitarian aid is to be delivered to the city, where food and medicine are acutely scarce, and an evacuation is to be carried out. Miroslava Kharchenko, a lawyer with the organization Save Ukraine, told DW that before people are taken out, time may be needed to demine the roads leading to the city. Russia and Ukraine also agreed on regular deliveries of humanitarian aid to Oleshky and, after the ceasefire ends, on the evacuation of residents from other settlements in the Kherson region — such operations are expected to take place at least once a month with the assistance of Melania Trump.