Key facts
- Sixteen Ukrainian civilians were evacuated from Russian-occupied territories on Oct. 10.
- The evacuees crossed into government-controlled Ukraine via the Novi Yarylovychi checkpoint on the Belarus border.
- One evacuee was an elderly man who responded to the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster.
- The man's wife, who was also to be evacuated, died before the operation.
- Ukrainian agricultural company MHP and its CEO Yuriy Kosyuk organized the return.
- The evacuees received medical care, temporary housing, financial assistance, and psychological support.
Sixteen Ukrainian civilians have been evacuated from Russian-occupied territories to government-controlled Ukraine, Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets announced on Oct. 10. The evacuees crossed through the Novi Yarylovychi checkpoint on Ukraine's border with Belarus, a route that required complicated arrangements.
Among those returned was an elderly man with a disability who had helped respond to the 1986 Chornobyl nuclear disaster. He had been living with his wife in occupied Luhansk Oblast, but her deteriorating health and a severe stroke in April made leaving difficult. Her husband also needed medical treatment and could no longer care for her. Although their daughter was waiting in Kyiv for both parents, the woman died before the evacuation could take place, and only her husband was able to return.
Another evacuee was a woman with severely limited mobility who had been living alone under occupation and required specialized transportation and medical assistance. Preparations for her evacuation had to be carried out discreetly to avoid detection by Russian occupation authorities.
The return of these Ukrainian citizens was organized by Ukrainian agricultural company MHP and its founder and CEO Yuriy Kosyuk. Lubinets also thanked Charitable Foundation Caritas Ukraine, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and others for their assistance in providing immediate medical care, temporary housing, financial aid, psychological support, and onward transportation for those who returned.
Ukraine continues to coordinate evacuations from Russian-occupied territories, where residents, particularly the elderly, disabled, or those requiring medical treatment, face severely diminished quality of life. Previously, on Sept. 19, Ukraine returned 15 civilians from occupied territories, and another 41 civilians returned in August and September.