Ukraine evacuates civilians from parts of Kherson region as expiry of Oleshky ceasefire nears

A six-day local ceasefire in Oleshky and the surrounding area was reached after mediation efforts by US first lady Melania Trump and with the involvement of Pope Leo. The ceasefire was due to expire at midnight Moscow time (2100 GMT).

It is the longest local pause in fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022.

"Units of civil-military cooperation of the 'South' group of forces, in cooperation with representatives of local authorities, evacuated 167 civilians to safer points in the Kherson region," Ukraine's General Staff wrote on Telegram.

It said the evacuees included 22 children and 21 people with limited mobility requiring special assistance.

The governor of Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, urged residents to be vigilant as the expiry of the ceasefire neared.

"I also strongly urge you not to visit the so-called 'red zones' – areas and settlements near the Dnipro," Prokudin wrote on Telegram. "The intensity of Russian strikes there remains high, and the threat to life is extremely high."

In Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, quoted by Russian news agencies, said Russia had a positive view of how the operation was conducted in Oleshky, as well as of the coordination between the two countries' human rights commissioners.

The pope said he hoped cooperation between Russia and Ukraine in implementing a ceasefire in Oleshky would pave the way for broader peace efforts.

Melania Trump, writing on X, said the ceasefire "has provided residents with the freedom to move, access to food, clean water, medicine, plus a renewed sense of dignity without the constant threat of attack".

On Saturday, starved and exhausted residents of Oleshky crossed into Ukraine after a circuitous journey from the area, just a few km (miles) from the front line.

They first travelled by bus via Crimea, annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014, to the Russian town of Anapa, before flying to Belarus from where they continued to Ukraine.

Those wishing to leave Oleshky - some for Russia, some for Ukraine - were taken initially to Crimea in 25 buses and nine ambulances, Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova said, before splitting into separate convoys.

It was not known how many chose to stay in Russian-held Oleshky, which lies on the Dnipro River opposite the region's Ukrainian-held main town of Kherson.

CEASEFIRE HOLDING

The ceasefire has been holding since Tuesday without violations, according to both Ukrainian and Russian officials. It has allowed them to de-mine the roads and bring food, medicines and other supplies into the town.

Russian forces took control of the town immediately after the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but Ukrainian troops recaptured much of the region, including the town of Kherson, later that year.

Military action continued in other parts of Ukraine on Sunday.

Regional governors and emergency services reported one death in a strike in the Sumy region on the Russian border, a frequent target, and at least one in the central region of Vinnytsia.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski and Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)