Four aircraft touched down in Gomel carrying exhausted citizens who had been stranded in Oleshky, where active fighting and drone strikes halted essential supply deliveries months earlier. To reach the transport flights, travelers traversed an intricate land corridor moving through Crimea toward Anapa before flying onward to Belarus. From Gomel, those wishing to return to Ukraine are being routed home aboard buses through a border checkpoint. Alongside facilitating these evacuations, the sustained truce has allowed emergency personnel to clear road mines and distribute urgent provisions of food and medicine.
Key points
Diplomatic intervention by the pope and U.S. first lady Melania Trump successfully establ…: Diplomatic intervention by the pope and U.S. first lady Melania Trump successfully established a verified ceasefire between both nations.
Civilians departing the area were permitted to select whether they preferred to move to R…: Civilians departing the area were permitted to select whether they preferred to move to Russia or return to Ukraine.
Emergency humanitarian crews utilized the ongoing lull in hostilities to remove landmines…: Emergency humanitarian crews utilized the ongoing lull in hostilities to remove landmines and restock critical medical and food supplies.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Hundreds of starving and exhausted residents left the town of Oleshky on Friday during a US-backed local ceasefire, the first of its kind and the longest humanitarian pause in the war, which is nearing its fifth year.
KYIV: Four planes carrying residents evacuated from the Russian-controlled Ukrainian town of Oleshky landed in Belarus on Saturday (Oct 31), the Belarusian Belta state news agency and a senior Ukrainian official said.
Hundreds of starving and exhausted residents left the town of Oleshky on Friday during a US-backed local ceasefire, the first of its kind and the longest humanitarian pause in the war, which is nearing its fifth year.
"The last, fourth plane landed in Gomel," said David Arakhamia, a top Ukrainian peace negotiator and close ally of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
"In a few hours, all Ukrainian citizens evacuated from Oleshky together with a Ukrainian delegation will be on Ukrainian territory."
Belta later reported that a convoy of buses carrying the residents had departed from the airport in Gomel, in southeastern Belarus near the border with Ukraine.
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