Hundreds Evacuated from Russian-Occupied Oleshky Arrive in Belarus

Hundreds of civilians from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky were flown to Gomel, Belarus, on Saturday as part of a humanitarian evacuation under a regional truce. Ukrainian parliament member David Arakhamia said the four planes landed in Gomel and that the evacuees would be transferred to Ukrainian territory within hours.

The evacuees, many of them children and elderly people, had first travelled by bus to the Russian Black Sea city of Anapa before being flown to Belarus, according to Al Jazeera reporter Yulia Shapovalova. Upon arrival, they were met by rescue workers, medical teams and Red Cross volunteers, and were awaiting transport to the Novaya Guta checkpoint on the Ukraine-Belarus border.

"It was a very long journey for them," Shapovalova reported.

Ukrainian Red Cross member Leonid Melinikov said aid workers expected about 500 arrivals at the border site. Ukrainian reporter Audrey MacAlpine noted that extensive preparations, including food, medical care and media presence, had been underway for nearly a week.

Some residents chose to relocate to Russian-held territory. Russia’s evacuation representative Yana Lantratova said those individuals were taken by bus to a temporary accommodation centre in Simferopol, Crimea, and would await further instructions.

The truce, which the White House said was helped by First Lady Melania Trump, also saw Pope Leo XIV urging both sides to allow aid deliveries and civilian evacuations. Meanwhile, fighting continued elsewhere, with attacks reported in Russia’s Bryansk region and Ukraine’s power and transport infrastructure.