Russian pro-war blogger goes silent after reporting more Oleshky evacuees headed to Ukraine than Russia
Russian pro-war blogger Vladimir Romanov has stopped posting on Telegram after reporting that significantly more buses carrying evacuees from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky were expected to head to Ukraine than to Russia.
Romanov, who runs the popular pro-war Telegram channel Romanov Light, last posted on October 31, a day after sharing the figures. Russian media reports and comments on his channel have fueled speculation that he may have been detained.
According to The Moscow Times, Romanov wrote on October 30 that 17 buses carrying Oleshky residents were expected to travel to Ukrainian-controlled territory, compared with just four bound for Russia.
He also suggested that Russian television might show a larger number of buses supposedly heading to Russia, but that their windows would be completely covered by curtains.
Romanov removed the bus figures from his post approximately 30 minutes later, but screenshots and an archived version of the original message circulated online.
Several commenters subsequently claimed that Russian security officers had detained him.
A Russian Telegram channel called Aggregator of Truth, citing unnamed sources close to law enforcement, reported that Romanov could face criminal prosecution for allegedly publishing "fake" information about the humanitarian operation.
There has been no independently verified confirmation of Romanov's detention or any formal charges against him.
The figures he published have also not been independently confirmed and do not establish how many people ultimately traveled to either destination.
Evacuation from occupied Oleshky
Romanov's disappearance from Telegram followed a humanitarian operation in Oleshky, a city in Ukraine's southern Kherson region that has been under Russian occupation since 2022.
A temporary ceasefire was in effect from October 27 through November 1 to allow humanitarian access and the evacuation of residents amid a severe humanitarian crisis.
The operation involved Ukrainian and Russian authorities, with Ukraine's Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets coordinating the Ukrainian side.
Twenty-five buses with a combined capacity of 750 passengers, along with ambulances for people with limited mobility, had been prepared for the evacuation.
On October 31, evacuees traveling to Ukrainian-controlled territory arrived in Belarus before continuing by bus toward the Ukrainian border. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later confirmed that Oleshky residents had crossed into Ukraine.
US First Lady Melania Trump, who was also involved in organizing the humanitarian mission, said nearly 800 people had been evacuated from the occupied city.
Lubinets previously said Ukraine would not officially disclose how many evacuees traveled to each side, explaining that he did not want the humanitarian operation to turn into a competition over who had received more people.
He nevertheless referred to figures published by non-Ukrainian journalists, saying the public could draw its own conclusions without an official breakdown.
Romanov's Telegram channel has remained inactive since October 31, but the reason for his silence remains unconfirmed.