Residents of the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, ravaged by years of war, arrived in Ukraine on Saturday after being evacuated via Belarus during a rare truce brokered by US First LadyMelania Trump. An journalist saw the residents, some draped in Ukrainian flags, disembark from buses and tearfully embrace their loved ones in emotional scenes. Oleshky, in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, was captured by the Russian military in 2022, and had been caught in intense fighting between the two sides that left residents starving and unable to escape.
Announcing the ceasefire on October 23, First Lady Melania Trump described the city as being "on the brink of disaster" and said that without her intervention, bringing aid to its beleaguered residents would have been "impossible". The evacuees whom met in northern Ukraine on Saturday said that they had to eat grass to survive, and that some had hunted dogs. War in Ukraine: Evacuations under way in Russian-occupied Oleshky To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.
One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Cover image: Evacuations under way in Oleshky - Emmanuelle Chaze reporting from Kyiv (October 30, 2026) © France 24 "There was no bread.
The shops weren't open," Valera, who did not give his last name, told AFP. "Lots of people planted vegetable gardens. We ate whatever was available.
Well, thank God, we're here now," the 29-year-old added. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on X that the residents would "receive the assistance they need". "I thank the American side and US First Lady Melania Trump for their mediation," he added.
Ukrainian and Russian officials visited the city together on Friday, delivering aid and marshalling those who wanted to leave in a rare show of cooperation between the warring sides. The truce, which covers the Kherson region only and began early Tuesday, marks the longest pause in fighting between Russia and Ukraine anywhere on the front line since Russia invaded its neighbour in February 2022. The conflict, now in its fifth year, has left hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians dead and forced millions to flee their homes. reporters saw jubilant scenes as the evacuees disembarked buses in Ukraine's northern Chernigiv region, having been evacuated via Belarus.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
