Residents from the city of Oleshky, located in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, arrived in Belarus on Saturday. The evacuation was facilitated by a humanitarian truce established between Kyiv and Moscow, which is set to remain in effect until Sunday evening. Authorities from both sides confirmed the successful transit of the residents.
Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, shared video footage on social media showing the evacuated residents stepping off a plane after landing in Belarus. In his post, Lubinets stated, "We will be home soon! For now, we are on the territory of the Republic of Belarus — together with our people and even their beloved pets!"
Ukrainian politician David Arakhamia confirmed that the fourth and final aircraft carrying the evacuees had touched down in the southeastern Belarusian city of Gomel. He added that the citizens, accompanied by the Ukrainian delegation, would return to Ukrainian soil within a few hours. Russia's defence ministry also confirmed the operation, noting that individuals from the Russian-occupied city who requested to leave had been flown to Gomel. The ministry released video footage showing coaches arriving and people boarding a plane.
The humanitarian mission was brokered with the assistance of US First Lady Melania Trump, who announced on Friday that a convoy was prepared to evacuate more than 750 people who had voluntarily chosen to leave Oleshky. The operation included 25 buses, 50 medical professionals, and ambulances.
The evacuation occurred as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that approximately 280,000 Ukrainian households were left without power following overnight Russian strikes. Zelenskyy noted that the strikes created a difficult situation with electricity supplies across multiple regions, specifically citing 200,000 households in Dnipro and the wider region, and more than 80,000 in the Kyiv region.
