Former headteacher reported killed in Russian drone attack after Oleshky ceasefire

A former school headteacher has been killed in a Russian drone attack in occupied Oleshky, Kherson Oblast, according to Tetiana Hasanenko, head of the Oleshky City Military Administration. Speaking to Ukrinform, she identified him as Kostiantyn Mykhailovych Melnyk. His death was reported as information emerged about fatalities from Russian attacks after the ceasefire ended.

Hasanenko also described concerns over the distribution of humanitarian supplies delivered during the mission to Oleshky. The administration had received information that residents were not getting the aid. Some who did receive supplies said their food packages were too small to feed one person for even a week. She stressed that Ukrainian authorities could not verify conditions there.

Some residents remained in Oleshky because they were unable to use the evacuation opportunity, while others said they had not known it was taking place. Hasanenko said people sheltering in basements without communications had no way to learn about the arrangements. A pause in Russian shooting alone did not tell them that an evacuation was under way, she explained.

Residents with reduced mobility were among those who missed the evacuation because they were not taken to the gathering point near the hospital. According to Hasanenko, they had expected Russian forces to transport them there. The convoy also collected people waiting along the highway, but some women had already left their waiting places because they thought the buses had passed.

Fear of filtration was another reason people stayed behind, Hasanenko said. Those fears were also shared by some residents who ultimately departed. She described people leaving despite believing the journey could end in death, because they considered remaining in Oleshky equally dangerous.

On 2 November, US First Lady Melania Trump said nearly 800 people had been evacuated during the humanitarian mission conducted under the ceasefire. Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said agreements with Russia prevented Ukrainian authorities from publishing separate figures for residents who chose to return to Ukraine and those who went to Russian-controlled territory.

Also on 2 November, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had no current plans for further humanitarian operations resembling the Oleshky evacuation. Lubinets nevertheless said he and his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, had agreed to approach the US first lady with a proposal to expand the mission to other settlements facing dire conditions.

Lantratova described the request differently. In remarks recorded at a press conference and quoted by Russian media, she said that she and Lubinets had asked the US first lady to mediate and help arrange recurring humanitarian aid deliveries to Oleshky, with similar missions taking place at least monthly.