Evacuees From Occupied Oleshky Reach Ukraine After Rare Truce

Evacuees from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky in southern Ukraine were reunited with relatives at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border on Saturday, The Guardian reported. They traveled out under a localized truce that the newspaper described as the most significant since Russia's full-scale invasion four and a half years ago.

Ukrainian and Russian officials have drawn different conclusions from the mission, including on whether more such operations will follow.

How the evacuation unfolded

The rescue operation began Friday and was carried out under a ceasefire in the Kherson region that started early Tuesday and was expected to last through Sunday evening. The White House said first lady Melania Trump helped broker the deal, while Pope Leo XIV urged Russia and Ukraine to allow aid deliveries and evacuations.

The Guardian reported that evacuees, wrapped in Ukrainian flags, stepped off buses to meet relatives. They had traveled by bus and plane through Russia and Belarus. Volunteers handed out coffee, and the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and World Central Kitchen were on hand with aid and food, including for pets. About 2,000 people were estimated to remain in Oleshky when the truce began. They were offered a choice: evacuation to Ukrainian-held or Russian-held territory, or staying in the city with restocked food and medical supplies.

What the Ukrainian side says

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, called the mission a win and said the people who had waited so long were finally safe. He said evacuees ranged in age from just over one year old to 94 and brought dogs, cats, a parrot and a raccoon. He hopes the approach can be repeated elsewhere and could serve as a model for responding to severe humanitarian crises.

Ukrainian authorities have not said how many people left Oleshky and have limited details about the route, citing the need to protect those who stayed and future missions. Melania Trump wrote Friday that the convoy could safely evacuate more than 750 people.

Evacuee Ivan Yevhenovych, 48, told The Guardian that drones filled the sky and that landmines or drone strikes were killing residents every day. He said that since spring there had been little staple food left. He added that many people stayed behind for their houses or their animals.

What the Russian side says

Yana Lantratova, Russia's human rights commissioner, said both sides agreed to conduct regular humanitarian missions in and around Oleshky. The Guardian noted that Lubinets did not mention such an agreement. Lantratova said the mission had ended but living conditions in the city remain extremely difficult, and Russia will try to support residents who chose to stay.

She said some evacuees who chose to move to Russian-controlled territory were taken to a temporary shelter in Simferopol, in Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014. Support, she wrote, should go beyond a roof and a hot meal.

What this means

For the families involved, the mission ended long separations. Liza Paliy, 19, waited at the border for her father, whom she had not seen in more than two and a half years since she fled with her mother and sister. She said the family had expected to be away only a month or two.

The truce also shows that humanitarian access to a front-line city can be negotiated locally. The open questions are how many residents left, how many remain, and whether the two governments will hold the regular missions Lantratova described.

Around Prague, based on reporting by The Guardian