Aid Convoy Enters Oleshky, Officials Say, as Evacuations Begin Under Truce Running Through Sunday

Since the Oleshky truce took effect on Tuesday, Oct. 27, the town has gone from promised aid to an actual operation: officials said a humanitarian mission entered the city today, Oct. 30, with evacuations under way.

The convoy includes 25 buses, ambulances and supplies of food and medicine. It assembled in Armiansk, a Russian-occupied town about 85 kilometers (53 miles) south of Oleshky, according to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's ombudsman and chief negotiator.

About 2,000 people remain in Oleshky, according to authorities and volunteers. The population was roughly 24,000 before Russian forces seized the town at the start of the 2022 invasion.

Deadly demining

Demining of the designated routes finished late Thursday, officials said. Two people were killed during the work.

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that mine clearance had begun Oct. 29. Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said the ceasefire was being "fully observed" with no incidents.

Lubinets said evacuations would continue until 2 p.m. local time, with aid distribution starting 30 minutes later. He did not specify whether he meant Ukrainian time or Russian time, which is an hour ahead. Video posted by his office showed him meeting elderly residents in the town.

A joint statement, and a dispute over where people go

Russia and Ukraine issued identical statements: "Everyone who wishes to leave Oleshky will have the opportunity to do so safely. Those who choose to stay may remain and will receive all the humanitarian support they need."

The White House said first lady Melania Trump brokered the arrangement. In a statement last week she said residents who want to evacuate would get coordinated transport to their preferred destination, adding: "I anticipate some will want to go to Russia, and some to Ukraine." Pope Leo XIV also pressed both leaders to help the town.

The destination question is where the account gets contested. Ksenia Arkhipova, a volunteer who used to live in Oleshky and stays in touch with residents, told The Associated Press that large numbers of Russian troops are in the city. In her words, they are "checking empty houses, and in some cases, moving into them," and "pressuring local residents to evacuate to Russia, rather than to Ukraine."

Arkhipova said about 1,000 residents had told her they wanted to leave. She said the Ukrainian delegation's presence mattered because many residents feared Russian authorities would interrogate them. Russian officials have not responded to that claim in the statements issued so far.

The route to Ukrainian-held territory is also long. Euronews reported that people seeking to return to Ukraine would travel through occupied Crimea, Russia and Belarus.

Skepticism from Kyiv's former prime minister

Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk told Euronews the truce will not lead to anything broader. Asked whether it could be a first step toward a wider agreement, he answered: "No." Asked whether Russia would agree to a ceasefire, he said: "No way."

Yatsenyuk accused Moscow of treating the remaining residents as hostages and staging a propaganda show in which Russian forces appear as rescuers. "They try actually to buy some kind of positive attitude from the White House," he said. "There is no way to trust Russians, period."

He also addressed the American reporters covering the operation. Melania Trump said on X that four Newsmax journalists would be embedded with Russian and Ukrainian humanitarian leaders as "neutral observers." Yatsenyuk urged journalists to "tell the truth, but not to parrot Russian propaganda." Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev said Russia "welcomes" the reporters.

Moscow has framed the operation differently. Putin said Oct. 29 that relief supplies would reach civilians "with the support of the First Lady of the United States," and Peskov called U.S. backing "particularly valuable."

War continues everywhere else

The ceasefire covers only Oleshky. Russia's Defense Ministry said its air defenses downed more than 1,000 Ukrainian drones overnight. Ukraine's air force said Russia launched ballistic and other missiles and scores of drones.

Before the truce, Russian ballistic missiles hit a Kyiv university campus on Monday evening, and a strike overnight hit the capital's Southern Bridge over the Dnipro.

The Oleshky pause also coincided with a rare diplomatic opening. Finland's president Alexander Stubb and Norway's prime minister Jonas Gahr Store spoke with Putin by phone Tuesday, the first call between Putin and Ukraine's main European allies since Emmanuel Macron's in July 2025. The Kremlin said the three agreed to keep direct phone contact. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Nordic leaders told Putin that real de-escalation was needed on energy and infrastructure.

What comes next

Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said the truce lasts until 10:59 p.m. on Nov. 1. After that, no agreement covers Oleshky.

The open questions are how many of the roughly 2,000 residents get out, how many choose Russia over Ukraine, and what happens to those who stay once the shooting can resume.