Mines cleared for aid route into Russian-occupied Oleschky as Ukraine and Russia keep striking each other

In brief

• Routes into Russian-occupied Oleschky have been demined, and an evacuation and aid convoy is set to start under a US-mediated local ceasefire lasting until Sunday.
• About 2,000 people are believed to remain in the city, which has been largely cut off from food and medicine for months.
• It would be the largest joint humanitarian operation since the February 2022 invasion.
• A Russian drone strike on the railway station in Dnipro killed at least 14 people on 29 October.

Mine clearance opens a route

Ukrainian and Russian officials say mines have been removed and defused along the routes into Oleschky to create a safe corridor (Hilfstransporte für die ukrainische Frontstadt Oleschky sollen anlaufen – tagesschau.de) (Ukraine-Krieg - Waffenruhe in Oleschky: Evakuierung soll am Nachmittag beginnen – Deutschlandfunk). The human rights commissioners of Ukraine and Russia, Dmytro Lubinez and Jana Lantratowa, issued near-identical statements saying the convoy was ready to depart.

Evacuation and ceasefire

According to Russian news agency Interfax, residents could leave the city from 14:00 local time on Friday. An earlier report had given Saturday as the start date (Ukraine-Krieg - Oleschky-Waffenruhe: Ukrainer und Russen bereiten Evakuierung vor – Deutschlandfunk). The local truce holds until Sunday. About 2,000 people are believed to remain in the city, which has been largely cut off from food and medicine for months. Those who stay will receive food and medicine deliveries.

Talks mediated by Washington

The operation was arranged with US mediation. Lubinez and Lantratowa were reported to have met briefly in Oleschky overnight, according to footage broadcast by Russian state television Vesti. If carried out, it would be the largest joint humanitarian operation since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022 (Waffenruhe in Oleschky: Ukraine und Russland bereiten Evakuierung aus Oleschky vor – ZEIT ONLINE).

Attacks continue

The local truce has not stopped wider fighting. On 29 October, a Russian drone hit the railway station in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, where a commuter train and a regional train to Zaporizhzhia were standing (Zahlreiche Tote bei Angriff auf Bahnhof in Dnipro – tagesschau.de). The head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanscha, said at least 14 people were killed and 13 injured, including a child. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for tougher sanctions against Russia from the EU, the US and the G7 and said sanctions should not be eased while the war continues.

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