Evacuees from Russian‑occupied Oleshky arrive in Belarus before returning to Ukraine
Residents of the war‑torn city of Oleshky were flown to Gomel, Belarus, and are set to re‑enter Ukraine after a humanitarian ceasefire.
Evacuation under a humanitarian cease‑fire
A humanitarian cease‑fire that began on Tuesday allowed a road out of the Russian‑controlled city of Oleshky to be cleared of mines. The pause in fighting is scheduled to remain in effect until the end of Sunday 1 November.
During a four‑hour window on Friday, a convoy of 25 buses with capacity for 750 people departed the city, accompanied by ambulances for those with limited mobility. The evacuation was part of a local cease‑fire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump.
Airlift to Belarus
Four planes carrying the evacuees landed in Gomel, Belarus on Saturday morning, according to Belarusian state media and a senior Ukrainian official. David Arakhamia, a key Ukrainian official, said the last plane had arrived and that all Ukrainian citizens evacuated from Oleshky would be back on Ukrainian territory within a few hours.
After landing, a bus convoy left Gomel airport heading toward the Ukrainian border, as reported by the state‑owned Belarusian news agency Belta.
Conditions that prompted the evacuation
Oleshky has been without electricity, gas and water for three years.
Residents faced extreme scarcity of food, leading some to cook garden weeds to survive.
Mines and drone attacks made it dangerous to bring supplies into the city.
A resident who fled three weeks earlier told the BBC he walked through 24 km (15 miles) of minefields to reach safety.
Who stayed behind
Despite the evacuation, several hundred residents are understood to have decided to remain in the war‑torn city, even though it lacks basic services and has been heavily damaged since Russia seized it in the early days of its full‑scale invasion in February 2022.
Before the war, Oleshky was home to 24,000 people. The city was captured by Russian forces during the first days of the invasion.
The evacuation marks the first few days of peace in the Kherson frontline region in four years, offering a brief respite for a population that has endured prolonged hardship.
