Oleshky residents return home after long truce
Hundreds of people crossed from Russian-held territory into Ukraine on Saturday following a temporary ceasefire that began on Tuesday.
By Connor Murphy ·
Residents of the occupied city of Oleshky reunited with family members on Saturday after crossing into Ukrainian-held territory. The rescue operation began on Friday under a local truce that started early Tuesday.
Ukrainian flags wrapped around evacuees were visible as they stepped off buses at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. Volunteers from the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, and World Central Kitchen provided food and aid. Local residents lined the highway with flags and torches to greet the convoy.
The White House stated that First Lady Melania Trump helped broker the localized deal. Pope Leo XIV urged both Russia and Ukraine to allow aid deliveries and evacuations. The ceasefire was scheduled to last until Sunday evening.
Ivan Yevhenovych, 48, described the conditions in Oleshky as difficult. He said drones made it hard to move around the streets and that staple food had run out since spring. He noted that landmines or drone strikes killed residents daily.
An estimated 2,000 people remained in Oleshky when the truce took effect. They could choose to evacuate to Ukrainian or Russian territory, or stay with new supplies of food and medical equipment. Yevhenovych said many stayed for their houses or animals.
Ukrainian authorities have not released the exact number of evacuees. They restricted details of the route to protect those who stayed and to safeguard future missions. Melania Trump posted on social media that the convoy evacuated more than 750 people.
Liza Paliy, 19, waited at the border for her father. She had not seen him in more than two and a half years. She said she and her family originally thought the occupation would last only a few months.
Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, called the mission a win. He said evacuees ranged in age from one year old to 94. They brought pets, including dogs, cats, a parrot, and a raccoon.
Yana Lantratova, Russia's human rights commissioner, said both sides agreed to conduct regular humanitarian missions in Oleshky. She said some evacuees who chose Russian territory went to a temporary shelter in Simferopol, a city in Crimea.
Zelenskyy said Moscow launched drone attacks on energy and railway infrastructure overnight. The attacks left 280,000 households without power in the Dnipro and Kyiv regions. The Russian defense ministry said its forces shot down 433 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Local officials in Russia reported drone attacks in the Bashkortostan republic. Russian media reported a fire in Ufa, the regional capital. A Ukrainian drone attack also killed a 30-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man in the Bryansk region, according to local governor Yegor Kovalchuk.
