Planes carrying residents evacuated from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky landed in Gomel, Belarus on Saturday morning, according to Belarusian state media and Ukrainian official David Arakhamia. The evacuees are expected to return to Ukrainian territory later Saturday.
The evacuation took place Friday during a local ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump. A convoy of 25 buses with space for 750 people left Oleshky on Friday afternoon, along with ambulances. Residents had a four-hour window to leave. The ceasefire, which took force Tuesday across the Kherson region, will remain in place until the end of Sunday, November 1.
Evacuees first had to travel through Russian-occupied territory and the southern Russian city of Anapa before flying to Belarus. Ukrainian military positions lie 5 kilometers from Oleshky, but the routing required entering deeper into Russian-held territory.
The ceasefire allowed roads out of Oleshky to be demined. Several hundred residents decided to stay in the city despite widespread devastation and a lack of gas, electricity and running water. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said those remaining "will receive all the necessary humanitarian assistance."
Lubinets travelled to Oleshky with his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova on Friday, making Lubinets the first Ukrainian official since the war's start to visit Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. Some in Ukraine have criticized the sight of him standing beside a Russian representative.