CHERNIVH REGION, Ukraine (AP) — Residents of areas occupied by Russia Olechky entered Ukrainian-controlled territory on Saturday in a major evacuation operation led by most important truce Since The full-scale invasion of Russia from Ukraine 4 and a half years ago.
Evacuees wrapped in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags got off buses at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border and were reunited with their family members. Volunteers with hand-drawn welcome signs handed out coffee to weary travelers who had traveled by bus and plane across Russia and Belarus. Residents from nearby villages lined the highway waving flags and flashlights to greet the convoy.
Tetiana Leonivna, 71, thanked the Ukrainian soldiers who helped her escape.
“We love them, we love them,” she said through tears. “We know they have our backs. And deep reverence to them, and deep reverence to their parents, for having such children. I’m proud, I’m just proud.”
THE ceasefire in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine began early Tuesday and is expected to continue until Sunday evening. The White House said U.S. first lady Melania Trump helped broker a localized truce, while Pope Leo XIV pressed Russia and Ukraine to allow aid deliveries and evacuations.
Evacuees and their families express their fear and hope
Relatives and volunteers from the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders and World Central Kitchen greeted the evacuees upon their arrival at the border, ready to provide them with aid and food. Crews unloaded crates of pets – including cats, dogs, a parrot and a raccoon – from buses.
Holding a cigarette between his trembling fingers, Ivan Yevhenovych, 48, described his last months in Oleshky.
“It was very difficult. There were a lot of drones. It was difficult to move around the streets,” he said. “Since spring, there hasn’t really been any basic food. People had a little of their own reserves. We are thrifty people.”
He said landmines or drone strikes were killing residents every day.
It is estimated that around 2,000 people remained in Oleshky when the temporary truce came into effect. They were offered the choice of evacuating to territory controlled by Ukraine or Russia, or remaining in the city with restocked food and medical supplies.
“A lot of people stayed put and didn’t want to leave,” Evhenovych said. “Some for their homes, others for their animals.”
Ukrainian authorities, seeking to protect those who remained and ensure future humanitarian missions, did not say how many residents had been evacuated from Oleshky and restricted details of their route. Melania Trump posted on social media on Friday that the humanitarian convoy could safely evacuate more than 750 people.
Liza Paliy, 19, was waiting at the border for her father, whom she had last seen more than two and a half years earlier when she fled the occupied city with her mother and sister.
“We thought at that time it would take a month, two maximum, and we would come back, but unfortunately two years have already passed,” she said.
Ukraine and Russia plan more humanitarian missions
Ukrainian human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets hailed the humanitarian mission as a victory.
“This is an extremely important moment. Behind us are difficult negotiations, agreements, preparations and a huge amount of work. But more importantly, the people who waited so long to be rescued are finally safe,” he said in an online message.
Lubinets and Yana Lantratova, Russia’s human rights commissioner, said in separate statements that the two sides agreed to continue working on similar humanitarian missions.
“The mission is complete, but unfortunately living conditions in Oleshky remain extremely difficult,” Lantratova said. “We will do everything we can to support residents who have made the decision to stay. »
Some Oleshky evacuees who chose to settle in Russian-occupied territory were taken to a temporary shelter in Simferopol, Lantratova said. Crimea is a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
“After everything they have endured and a long journey, it is essential for these people to rest, recover and feel cared for. However, support should not be limited to just a roof over their head and a hot meal,” she said in a social media post.
US authorizes sale of Patriot missiles to Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday welcomed US approval of his country’s purchase of 500 PAC-3 Patriot interceptors, which are needed to stop Russian ballistic missiles.
“Right now, the Russians are attacking our energy infrastructure every day. In the last two weeks of October, there have already been more than 30 Russian strikes on critical parts of our power grid,” Zelensky wrote on X.
The Trump administration announced Friday that it had approved the proposed $2.1 billion sale. It remains subject to congressional review.
Additionally, 500 Patriot missiles would be purchased for Ukraine under a U.S. program funded by donations from Canada, Germany and Norway, the State Department said.
Ukrainian drone attack kills 2 in Russia
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian drone attack killed a 30-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man in Russia’s western Bryansk region, local governor Yegor Kovalchuk said on Saturday. Five others were injured, he said.
Local authorities also reported Ukrainian drone attacks in the Russian republic of Bashkortostan. Russian media reported that a fire broke out in the regional capital, Ufa, which is home to several oil refineries.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday its forces shot down 433 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Zelensky said Moscow launched drone attacks on energy and rail infrastructure across Ukraine overnight, leaving 280,000 homes in the Dnipro and kyiv regions without power.
The attacks targeted heat and power cogeneration plants in the kyiv and Sumy regions, four electricity substations and a gas distribution facility in the Dnipro region as well as railway infrastructure in Dnipro and Kharkiv, he said, adding that repair teams were working to restore power.
Zelensky urged his partners to impose new sanctions on Russia and continue supporting Ukraine.
“The world sees Russia targeting civilian infrastructure every day. Anyone who does not want to see this Russian escalation spread further to Europe must help Ukraine,” he said in an online message.
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Associated Press reporter Dan Bashakov in Chernihiv region, Ukraine; Susie Blann in Kyiv; and Katie Marie Davies in Manchester, England, contributed.
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Follow AP coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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