Evacuees from Russian-occupied Olechky were reunited with their families after crossing into Ukrainian-controlled territory on Saturday.
The major rescue operation began Friday and took place in the most significant truce since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine four and a half years ago.
Evacuees wrapped in Ukrainian flags got off buses at the Ukraine-Belarusian border to reunite with family members. Volunteers carrying hand-drawn welcome signs handed out coffee to weary people who had traveled by bus and plane across Russia and Belarus. Residents from nearby villages lined the highway waving flags and torches 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 first lady Melania Trump helped broker the localized deal, while Pope Leo XIV pressured Russia and Ukraine to allow aid deliveries and evacuations.
Relatives and volunteers from the Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières and World Central Kitchen greeted the evacuees upon their arrival at the border, ready to provide them with aid and food, including their pets.
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 a choice between being evacuated to territory under Ukrainian or Russian control, 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 evacuated 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.
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 said the evacuees ranged in age from just over a year to 94 and brought pets, including dogs, cats, a parrot and a raccoon. He said he hoped Oleshky’s truce could be replicated elsewhere, saying it “could form the basis of a new mechanism for responding to the most difficult humanitarian crises.”
Yana Lantratova, Russia’s human rights commissioner, said the two sides agreed to carry out regular humanitarian missions in and around Oleshky. Lubinets did not mention this development.
“The mission is complete, but unfortunately living conditions in Oleshky remain extremely difficult,” she 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. The city is located on Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, annexed by Moscow 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.
A Ukrainian drone attack killed a 30-year-old woman and a 41-year-old man in the Bryansk region of western Russia, local governor Egor 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.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Moscow launched drone attacks on energy and railway infrastructure across Ukraine overnight, leaving 280,000 homes in the Dnipro and kyiv regions without power.
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