Oleshky evacuees arrive in Belarus

Four planes carrying Ukrainian evacuees from the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky arrived in Belarus on Saturday, according to Belarusian Belta state news agency and a senior Ukrainian official. The evacuation, the first of its kind and the longest humanitarian pause in the ongoing war, marked the culmination of a cease-fire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump. Hundreds of residents, many of whom were starving and exhausted, left Oleshky on Friday as part of the operation.

David Arakhamia, a top Ukrainian peace negotiator and close ally of President Volodymyr Zelensky, confirmed that all Ukrainian citizens evacuated from Oleshky would soon be on Ukrainian territory. Belta later reported that a convoy of buses carrying the evacuees had departed from Gomel, a city in southeastern Belarus near the Ukrainian border, a few hours after landing in Gomel.

The residents' journey from Oleshky involved a complex route. They initially traveled by bus via Crimea to the Russian town of Anapa before taking flight to Belarus. From there, they would travel to Ukraine via a border crossing.

The ceasefire in Oleshky was reached through the mediation efforts of Melania Trump and with the involvement of the pope. Since Tuesday, the local ceasefire has held without any violations, according to both Ukrainian and Russian officials. This has allowed for the de-mining of roads and the delivery of food, medicines, and other essential supplies to the town.

Prior to the ceasefire, supply routes to Oleshky had been disrupted by fighting and drone attacks. Some residents reported that food deliveries were halted in May, leading to hundreds of people falling into starvation. It was unclear how many people decided to leave Oleshky and how many chose to remain in the town, which had options to travel to Russia or return to Ukraine.

Ukrainian officials stated that approximately 1,700 people remained in Oleshky, down from a pre-war population of around 24,000. Many of those remaining were elderly or ill.