A group of evacuees crossed out of the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, in Ukraine's Kherson region, and arrived in Ukrainian-controlled territory this weekend, under a localized truce agreed between Kyiv and Moscow. Oleshky sits just across the Dnipro River from the city of Kherson and has been under Russian control since the early months of the full-scale war that began in February 2022. Local, limited truces of this kind have periodically allowed civilians, the wounded, or the bodies of soldiers to be moved across the front line even as the wider war continues elsewhere.
The evacuation came even as fighting persisted in other parts of the conflict. Russian officials reported what they described as a large scale drone attack on an industrial facility, part of the long running exchange of long range drone and missile strikes that has characterized the war for more than three years. Ukraine has regularly targeted energy and industrial infrastructure inside Russia with drones, while Russia has conducted extensive strikes on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, particularly the power grid, as the war has dragged on.
Separately, the United States approved a new sale of missiles to Ukraine, continuing a pattern of American military support that has included air defense systems, artillery, and long range strike weapons since the war began. Arms sales and transfers from the US and its European allies have been a central feature of Ukraine's ability to sustain its defense against the larger Russian military, alongside sanctions and diplomatic pressure aimed at bringing the war to a negotiated end.
The combination of a local humanitarian truce in one sector alongside continued strikes in others reflects the on again, off again pattern that has defined much of the war in its later years, with periodic, narrow agreements on civilian evacuations or prisoner exchanges coexisting with ongoing combat along most of the roughly thousand kilometer front line.
Diplomatic efforts toward a broader ceasefire or peace settlement are expected to continue, though no comprehensive agreement has been reached as the war enters its fourth winter.
What is Oleshky?
Oleshky is a city in Ukraine's Kherson region, on the east bank of the Dnipro River, that has been under Russian occupation since 2022.
Is the war in Ukraine over?
No, fighting continues along the front line even as localized truces occasionally allow for evacuations or exchanges.