Add StudioX as a preferred source on GoogleHundreds of residents evacuated from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky arrived in the northern region of Chernihiv on Saturday, according to BBC World. Many were reunited with relatives they had not seen in years.
The evacuees crossed into northern Ukraine via Belarus. One of them, Viacheslav, stepped off a coach with his wife Olha, their family and their dog and said: “We came back from hell.”
A city trapped between a river and Russian forces
Russia seized Oleshky in the first days of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. The city is boxed in by the Dnipro River on one side and Russian forces on the other.
Olha and Viacheslav lived there with their son and daughter, both in their 30s. Olha used a single word to describe life in the city over the past few years: horror.
Even as shelling intensified, the family feared that trying to leave would be more dangerous. Routes were mined and subject to drone attack. As supplies ran short, the couple said they tried to find food earlier this month by crossing minefields. Olha told the BBC that people were stepping on mines, being killed or maimed, simply to survive. Some residents who were too frightened to go outside had resorted to cooking garden weeds.
Ceasefire opens a window to leave
The chance to leave came earlier this week, when a humanitarian ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump took effect in the Kherson region. It brought the area its first few days of peace in four years.
Residents had a four-hour window on Friday to get out. A convoy of 25 buses was brought in for up to 750 evacuees, along with ambulances for people with limited mobility.
The journey took evacuees through Russian-occupied territory to southern Russia. From there they flew to Belarus, then travelled by bus to a military facility in Chernihiv. Some elderly residents were so weak that they had to be carried on stretchers across the tarmac, where evacuees were processed before moving on.
Up to 6,000 people, including 200 children, were believed to still be living in Oleshky and the surrounding areas. About 1,700 of them were in the city itself.
Reunions, and worries about those left behind
Mykhailo Palii’s two daughters ran across the tarmac, crying, to embrace him. They had feared they might never see him again. Palii said he had kept many details of life in Oleshky from his family so they would not worry. He mentioned drone attacks and missile strikes, and said a hole had been blown into his bathroom.
Another couple, Tetiana and Volodymyr, arrived carrying a cat. They said their home burned down three years ago and they had since lived in a neighbour’s abandoned house. Tetiana said leaving was an easy decision because they have no relatives in the city and their married children live elsewhere.
Those who got out still worry about the people left behind. Olha said many remain in Oleshky living in those conditions.
The evacuees now face the task of rebuilding their lives. Palii said he plans to look for work and is willing to take on any job, from digging and planting to building and demolition. Olha said her family has no relatives elsewhere in Ukraine and will stay with acquaintances for an extended period while they recover. She said that having survived what she called hell, they will survive where they are now.
Source: BBC World
Harnaik Singh Rathor is the Founder, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of StudioX News Canada, Canada's multilingual digital news network serving multilingual diaspora communities across Canada. With a background in media production, public relations, and multicultural communications, he founded StudioX Film and TV Corporation to bridge the gap between mainstream Canadian media and the country's diverse immigrant communities. He is a member of the Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), RTDNA Canada, CPRS Vancouver, NEPMCC, and the Canadian Freelance Union (Unifor). Based in Surrey, British Columbia. | LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/harnaiksinghrathor/ | Muck Rack: https://muckrack.com/harnaiksinghrathor | Email: editor@studioxnews.ca
