Kherson: 167 civilians evacuated from the right bank during the Oleshky ceasefire

Civil-military cooperation (CIMIC) units of Ukraine’s “South” force group evacuated 167 civilians from the right bank of the Kherson region, taking advantage of the humanitarian ceasefire in force for the Oleshky mission. The operation was carried out in cooperation with local authorities, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces announced on Sunday, November 1.

Among the people taken to safer areas were 22 children and 21 people with limited mobility. All lived in settlements along the Dnipro, in territory under Ukrainian control, which came under Russian fire daily. In its post, the General Staff describes an operation in difficult conditions: the routes passed through mined and damaged roads and through spots with burned military and civilian vehicles.

The General Staff notes that people who until now had no way of leaving the dangerous areas on their own were able to leave these settlements. The children and people with limited mobility needed particular care, while moving along damaged roads demanded great attention and close coordination among all the units involved. Saving lives, it writes, remains the priority, along with helping those who cannot leave dangerous areas by themselves.

The Oleshky ceasefire

The evacuation took place while the ceasefire in specific parts of the Kherson region, agreed for the humanitarian mission to Oleshky, a city held by Russian forces, was in force. Ukrainian forces, according to the General Staff, used the security conditions that took shape, while units of the “South” group strictly observe the ceasefire in the mission area.

The local ceasefire in Oleshky took effect at 03:00 Kyiv time on Tuesday, October 27, two days earlier than the date given by the White House when it announced the deal, mediated by Melania Trump. The mission lasted from October 30 to 31, and on Saturday, October 31 residents of Oleshky who asked to leave reached the Chernihiv region by an unusual route through Russian territory and Belarus.

The announcement for Kherson came after the new Russian attack with 433 drones on energy infrastructure in four regions, overnight into Sunday.