Hundreds Evacuate Oleshky To Belarus Under Melania Trump-Brokered Truce

Oleshky evacuees reach Gomel

Hundreds of residents from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky were transported to Belarus as part of a major evacuation mission under a truce that the White House says United States First Lady Melania Trump helped broker.

Four planes carrying the Oleshky evacuees arrived in the southeastern Belarusian town of Gomel on Saturday, according to Ukrainian parliament member David Arakhamia.

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Arakhamia said, "The last, fourth plane landed in Gomel (Belarus). In a few hours, all Ukrainian citizens evacuated from Oleshky, together with the Ukrainian delegation, will be on Ukrainian territory," as Belarusian state media reported a bus convoy leaving Gomel airport for the Ukrainian border.

Belarusian state media and a senior Ukrainian official said the evacuees were expected back in Ukraine later on Saturday, after the evacuation began on Friday during a local ceasefire brokered by Melania Trump.

The BBC described the ceasefire in the frontline region of Kherson as providing the first few days of peace in the area in four years, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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Ceasefire logistics and routes

The evacuation relied on a temporary truce across the frontline region of Kherson, with the BBC saying it would remain in place until the end of Sunday 1 November.

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The BBC reported that residents had a four-hour window to leave before a convoy of 25 buses, with space for 750 people, left the town on Friday afternoon along with ambulances for people with limited mobility.

The operation required evacuees to travel into Russian-occupied territory first, because the BBC said Ukrainian military positions lie just 5km (3.1 miles) from Oleshky but evacuees had to travel into Russian-occupied territory and then to the southern Russian city of Anapa.

David Arakhamia said on Saturday that "The last, fourth plane landed in Gomel (Belarus). In a few hours, all Ukrainian citizens evacuated from Oleshky, together with the Ukrainian delegation, will be on Ukrainian territory," while the BBC said Belta reported a bus convoy heading toward the Ukrainian border.

Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said on Friday morning that those who decided to stay "will receive all the necessary humanitarian assistance," and the BBC said Lubinets traveled to Oleshky with Russia's ombudswoman and lead representative on the mission, Yana Lantratova.

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What comes next for civilians

The BBC said the ceasefire allowed the road out of Oleshky to be demined, and it reported that the evacuation across the Dnipro River directly into Ukraine-controlled territory was not possible. The BBC reported that evacuees first traveled by bus via Crimea to the Russian town of Anapa before flying to Gomel, and it said a humanitarian ceasefire took force across the frontline region of Kherson on Tuesday. The BBC said several hundred people were understood to have decided to stay in the war-torn city despite widespread devastation and a lack of gas, electricity and running water.

The Al Jazeera report said the estimated 2,000 residents were offered the choice of travelling to Ukrainian- or Russian-held territory, or remaining in the city with replenished food and medical supplies. Russia's ombudswoman and lead representative on the mission, Yana Lantratova, said buses also transported Oleshky residents who wanted to live in Russia, while the BBC said Russia prepared "dozens of tonnes" of aid for residents who do not wish to leave.

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