Updated

Ukraine and Russia have launched a new format for evacuating civilians from occupied territories, allowing vulnerable people to return to Ukrainian-controlled land every week, Ukraine's ombudsman said. Sixteen Ukrainians were returned on 12 November under the new arrangement, which the ombudsman said was reached through talks with Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova. The Kyiv Independent reported that the weekly evacuations cover older people, people with limited mobility and those needing medical assistance, with the International Committee of the Red Cross assisting. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said most requests come from Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, with some returns from Kherson Oblast. The Kyiv Independent also reported that the arrangement followed an evacuation from the town of Oleshky, where forces observed a local ceasefire, and that Moscow had previously blocked a humanitarian corridor there. The mechanism sits alongside prisoner exchanges, which Lubinets said should prioritise seriously wounded prisoners and Ukrainian women, with 486 Ukrainian women still in Russian captivity.