Oleshky residents return to Ukraine

For more on that, let's bring in Jens Schumacher, field coordinator in the Mikkelheim and Hörson regions for the non-profit Solidarité Internationale. Jens, great to have you with us on the program today. We've been hearing of harrowing details emerging since the evacuation, stories of elderly residents being so weak that they were carried on stretchers, for example, that obviously... All been trapped without food, water and electricity. Tell us more about what these residents have had to endure these past several years. Yeah, thank you very much for having me and the program. Yeah, the situation we are facing in Oleschke is very extreme, but comparable with the situation in other frontline communities and settlements on the White Bank. So, in Oneshki, indeed, people were completely cut off from any basic services such as Food assistance, water, hygiene, or housing support. And you have to know that there is no humanitarian actor present in this area because the region is occupied since the beginning of the full-fledged war in February 2022. There's two. And 40 controlled by Russian forces. And do we know how many were evacuated? This is a good point, because access to information is very tricky. In the past, social media was coining unofficial figures of 240 people, but it seems to be that it's more than 240 out of the 2,000 people remaining, but we don't have any clear figures. Because the whole arrangement was done between the Ukrainian government, Russian government, with support of U.S. representatives. Humanitarian actors were not involved. Now, conditions were obviously desperate, but it was also highly dangerous to escape, wasn't it, given that the routes out had been mined, not to mention they were subject to drone attacks as well? Yes, indeed. The area was mined. You have the same situation on the right of Everbank, which is de-occupied since the end of 2022. We have the same problem. And here, indeed, the first activity, I guess, was... Now, several hundred people, many from the older generation, are believed to have remained behind. Will these residents also be receiving the necessary humanitarian assistance? It's a good point because we don't know what will be happening next week because ceasefire is ending this evening at 11 p.m. So will there be another arrangement for a ceasefire? Will we get back to the worst situation we are experiencing, local population, governmental authorities and humanitarian actors, as before the ceasefire? And we have to consider that we are approaching winter season, and this winter will be even more harsh than last year in terms of limited access, in terms of limited resources to provide assistance to those people living in frontline settlements and frontline communities, Including Kherson City on both sides of the river, which marks the front line. Now, the nonprofit organization you work for, Jens, has been carrying out humanitarian missions in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Tell us more about the work you've been doing, who you've managed to reach and the situation elsewhere in Ukraine at the moment. Yeah, we have been We are in the present in the country since 2022, just after the full-fledged war started, we opened our presence in the country. We have a field base in Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv. So we are covering what is called the humanitarian question. That means the area from the northeast up to the south. We are providing access to water and sanitation services, we are providing decent housing support, we have some minor livelihood support and we are supporting people for the winter season. Yes, just going back to what you said earlier about the truce ending tonight on Sunday, what does that mean for Oleshky? What comes next? Yeah, the question is indeed... Important for Oleshky, but even I would like to say for the whole region. So, as I said, will we have another arrangement for a ceasefire to grant access for governmental authorities, for humanitarian actors, at least on the Ukrainian side? What is happening on the Russian side is not clear because there is no or very little actors. Present, supporting people in a very dire and vulnerable situation. So it's not clear. Jens Schumacher, thank you so much for sharing us your insights today.