On the morning of 3 October, posts and footage appeared on social media allegedly showing a group of civilians leaving the temporarily occupied town of Oleshky in the Kherson region. According to preliminary reports, the group consists of several dozen people.
What we know so far
Footage circulating on 3 October shows a group of people walking along a road. Social media posts claim that these are residents of Oleshky who managed to leave the town. However, it has not yet been possible to independently verify the location, the time the footage was taken, or the number of people shown.
The Oleshky City Military Administration, Save Ukraine and the Ombudsman’s Office have not yet publicly announced a new mass exodus specifically on 3 October. It is therefore too early to say that the evacuation operation has been completed.
People from Oleshky have already been successfully evacuated in small groups
At the same time, the scenario of civilians leaving the city is a realistic one. According to Save Ukraine, by 26 May 2026, the organisation had helped to evacuate around 300 people. After that, the evacuation was effectively blocked until 10 September, and it was only after 10 September that people were able to leave the city 67 people, including eight children.
A large-scale, organised evacuation from Oleshky remains impossible due to the fighting, mined roads and the lack of an agreed humanitarian corridor. Ukrainian officials and volunteers have previously reported that some people are attempting to leave the town on their own, risking their lives.
Thousands of civilians remain in the city
According to estimates by the Oleshky Municipal Administration, there may still be around two thousand people, although it is impossible to determine the exact number. Residents are facing a severe shortage of food, medicines and drinking water, and there are no regular humanitarian supplies.
On 2 October, the European Union specifically called on Russia, as the occupying power, to ensure the safety of humanitarian access to Oleshky and allow civilians to leave the town.
