Oleshky residents reach Ukraine under rare local truce

Residents of Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city on the front line in Ukraine, were evacuated to Ukrainian-held territory on Saturday, October 31, after a rare local truce, France 24 reported. The broadcaster said the residents had requested to leave and were reunited with loved ones in Ukraine. France 24 correspondent Emmanuelle Chaze reported on the evacuation, which the broadcaster described as successful.

Oleshky was seized by Russian forces in the early days of the 2022 invasion, according to France 24. The city remains cut off by the Dnipro River on one side and Russian troops on the other. France 24 reported that civilians there lack the most basic necessities and that the city faces a humanitarian crisis.

A localised ceasefire had been in place since Tuesday, France 24 reported. The broadcaster described the arrangement as a rare local truce. It did not give the terms of the ceasefire or the number of people evacuated.

Evacuees described years of isolation, food shortages and regular shelling, France 24 reported. Some said they were forced to eat grass and dogs to survive. The broadcaster did not say when those accounts were recorded.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Oleshky truce showed that de-escalation was possible, according to The Guardian's Ukraine war briefing, a roundup of developments in the war. The briefing did not carry the full text of his remarks or say when he made them.