Hundreds of civilians were evacuated from Russian-occupied Oleshky to Ukraine via Belarus under a ceasefire involving US First Lady Melania Trump

Four planes carrying evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky landed in Gomel, Belarus, on Saturday. “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,” said David Arakhamia, a senior Ukrainian official.

The evacuation took place under a regional ceasefire that the White House says was brokered with the involvement of US First Lady Melania Trump. Bus convoys left Oleshky on Friday under the truce, which is expected to continue through Sunday. Conditions had become so desperate that getting supplies into Oleshky was extremely difficult, and escape was highly dangerous because the routes out had been mined and subject to drone attack.

Residents had a four-hour window to leave before a convoy of 25 buses, with space for 750 people, departed on Friday afternoon, along with ambulances for people with limited mobility. Ukrainian military positions lie just 5km from Oleshky, but the proximity offered no easy exit. Evacuees had to travel through Russian-occupied territory to the southern Russian city of Anapa, where they boarded flights to Gomel. Bridges across the nearby River Dnipro have been destroyed, and the riverbank has been mined and is dangerous. One resident who fled the city three weeks earlier told the BBC he had been forced to walk through 24km of minefields to reach safety. Lantratova, Russia’s ombudswoman and lead representative on the mission, said the buses also transported Oleshky residents who wanted to live in Russia.

A town cut off

Before the war, Oleshky had 24,000 residents. Russia seized the city during the first days of its full-scale invasion in February 2022. Conditions were dire. Under occupation, residents have endured severe shortages of food, water, electricity, and medicine amid widespread devastation and the absence of gas and running water. Many cooked garden weeds to survive. The estimated 2,000 remaining 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 and Ukraine have not specified how many people chose to leave the city.

Behind the ceasefire

A humanitarian ceasefire took effect across the frontline region of Kherson on Tuesday, providing the first days of peace in the area in four years. The truce allowed the road out of Oleshky to be cleared of mines and will remain in place until the end of Sunday, 1 November. Melania Trump posted on Friday that the humanitarian convoy could safely evacuate more than 750 people. Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff, also pressed Russian and Ukrainian leaders to allow aid deliveries and civilian evacuations. Lubinets and Lantratova travelled to Oleshky together on Friday, setting off from Armiansk in Russian-occupied Crimea. The Oleshky ceasefire has required close cooperation with Lantratova, which Lubinets said he carried out in the interests of saving lives. Lubinets is the first Ukrainian official since the start of the war to visit Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. According to BBC reporting, some in Ukraine have recoiled at the sight of him standing beside a representative of the Russian occupying power, which has killed so many of the city’s residents and made life unbearable for the rest.

Several hundred people are understood to have decided to stay in the war-torn city. Russia said Thursday it had prepared dozens of tonnes of aid for those who remain, including food, medicine, hygiene products, and fuel for generators. Lubinets said those who stay will receive all necessary humanitarian assistance.

The group was met in Gomel by rescue workers, medical teams, and Red Cross volunteers, according to Belarusian state media. The state-owned news agency Belta reported that a bus convoy of Oleshky residents had left Gomel airport and was heading towards the Ukrainian border.