Ukraine Will Not Disclose the Number of People Evacuated from Oleshky — Lubinets

Ukrainian authorities will not release official figures on the number of people who, under agreements with Russia, have left Oleshky for territory controlled by Ukraine or for the Russian Federation. This was announced by Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.

 

Dmytro Lubinets, the Verkhovna Rada’s Commissioner for Human Rights, made this statement during a press conference.

According to the ombudsman, the decision not to disclose the statistics is linked to the need to preserve the ability to apply the established mechanism for rescuing people in other settlements where a humanitarian crisis has unfolded.

“What we did in Oleshky, in my view, is a potential mechanism that we can apply to other settlements where our citizens are currently living in similar conditions. In other words, the humanitarian crisis was not limited to Oleshky,” Lubinets emphasized.

He noted that there are currently several settlements in the Kherson region, as well as in other regions of Ukraine, where active hostilities are ongoing and the front line effectively runs through them.

According to the ombudsman, the mechanism developed could open up new opportunities for rescuing people in such conditions.

Lubinec also urged people not to turn the situation into a competition over how many people have left in one direction or another.

“It was very important for us to constantly monitor the implementation of the agreements. Therefore, neither I nor the Russian side will cite official figures. I really don’t want this to turn into a question of who has left for which side in greater numbers. That automatically undermines objectivity. You’ve seen individual news reports by non-Ukrainian journalists and can draw your own conclusions without the release of official figures,” he noted.

Separately, the Commissioner spoke about people of various ages who were successfully returned to Ukraine. The oldest man is 94 years old, and the youngest among those evacuated is an infant who returned with his parents.

According to Lubinets, organizing safe and comfortable travel for these groups of citizens required additional planning, as the logistical route was complex.

He added that the work with the evacuees does not end after their return. The Ombudsman receives daily updates on their condition, well-being, and needs, including morning and evening check-ins.

“As far as I know, everyone is happy to be in Ukraine,” Lubinets concluded.

At the same time, the Ombudsman added that, together with the owners, they managed to evacuate 105 pets, including four parrots, according to a Ukrinform correspondent.

Ukraine plans to establish a Center for the Return of Civilians from Temporarily Occupied Territories.

As a reminder, there are still people in Oleshky who wish to be evacuated.

Meanwhile, Melania Trump reacted to the successful evacuation of Oleshky residents.

Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported on October 30 that all residents of Oleshky who wished to leave for territory controlled by Ukraine were able to take advantage of the evacuation, and humanitarian aid was delivered to those who remained.