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Ukrainian civilians evacuated from the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky in the southern Kherson region arrived in Belarus on Saturday aboard four planes, as a rare ceasefire brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump allowed residents to leave the frontline city following weeks of severe humanitarian hardship.
"The fourth and final plane has landed in Gomel (Belarus). Within a few hours, all Ukrainian citizens evacuated from Oleshky, as well as the Ukrainian delegation, will be back on Ukrainian soil," Ukrainian politician David Arakhamia wrote on Telegram.
The evacuees traveled by bus from Oleshky to Anapa in Russia's Krasnodar region before boarding flights to Gomel in southeastern Belarus, according to Belarusian state news agency Belta.
Emergency personnel, medical teams and Red Cross volunteers were deployed to Gomel Airport to assist the arriving residents.
The evacuees were expected to continue their journey to the Novaya Guta border crossing between Belarus and Ukraine, where they would enter Ukrainian territory.
Russia's Defense Ministry said earlier Saturday that residents who had expressed a desire to return to Ukraine were traveling to Gomel alongside Ukrainian human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets.
Images released by the ministry showed buses carrying evacuees, including men and women of various ages, before some boarded an aircraft. Several people were seen using crutches or wheelchairs.
Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova said Friday that the humanitarian mission in Oleshky had been completed, with evacuation convoys departing the city.
She said the convoys that entered the settlement were “now splitting up, heading in different directions.”
Lantratova also proposed making humanitarian missions coordinated by Melania Trump a regular initiative, saying cooperation with her Ukrainian counterpart, Lubinets, had demonstrated that such arrangements could help civilians “even under difficult conditions.”
Neither Moscow nor Kyiv has disclosed the number of residents evacuated.
According to Kyiv's estimates, approximately 2,000 people remained in Oleshky before the humanitarian operation, compared with a prewar population of 24,000.
Authorities on both sides previously indicated that many residents wanted to remain in the city, even if fighting resumed.
The evacuation followed a humanitarian ceasefire announced last week by Melania Trump to facilitate aid deliveries and civilian evacuations from Oleshky, which has been under Russian control since 2022.
The city, located along the front line in Ukraine's Kherson region, has faced a severe humanitarian crisis in recent weeks.
The temporary arrangement took effect Tuesday at 1 a.m. GMT, allowing humanitarian assistance to reach the settlement and residents wishing to leave to be evacuated.
The ceasefire is scheduled to expire Sunday at 10:59 p.m. local time (8:59 p.m. GMT).
The operation represents a rare instance of humanitarian coordination between Russia and Ukraine during their ongoing war, with both sides confirming the movement of evacuees through Russia and Belarus toward Ukrainian-controlled territory.
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