Civilians evacuated from Russian-occupied Oleshky arrive in Belarus on their way to Ukraine

Four planes carrying residents evacuated from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky landed in Gomel, Belarus, on Saturday. According to The Moscow Times, BBC News, and RTE News, the evacuees include hundreds of starving and exhausted residents. David Arakhamia, a senior Ukrainian official, stated that the citizens and a Ukrainian delegation are expected to reach Ukrainian territory within hours.

Belta reported that a bus convoy carrying the residents has departed the Gomel airport and is heading toward the Ukrainian border.

The evacuation took place on Friday during a local, U.S.-backed ceasefire, which CBC News describes as the most significant truce since the full-scale invasion began more than four years ago. The Moscow Times and RTE News report the ceasefire was reached through mediation efforts by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump and the involvement of the Pope. Belta noted that the evacuees traveled by bus via Crimea to the Russian town of Anapa before flying to Belarus due to the frontline being only a few kilometers from Oleshky.

While the humanitarian pause has held without violations since Tuesday, Euronews reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said approximately 280,000 Ukrainian households were left without power following Russian strikes overnight.

Brief written by urgent.news from CBC News, Euronews, The Moscow Times, BBC News, RTE News — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.