Over 750 Oleshky Residents Reach Ukraine After 24-Hour Evacuation Through Russia and Belarus
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Oct 31
Over 750 Oleshky Residents Reach Ukraine After 24-Hour Evacuation Through Russia and Belarus
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Oct 31
Summary
More than 750 evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky arrived in Ukraine on Saturday, stepping off buses after a 24-hour trip that ended with emotional family reunions.
The rescue followed a six-day humanitarian truce that let civilians leave the frontline city via Russia and Belarus after months of hunger and intensified drone warfare.
Residents said conditions in Oleshky had become a "kill zone," with Russian troops living among civilians and many arrivals appearing gaunt and sleep-deprived after surviving on little food.
Oleshky has been under Russian occupation since 2022, and officials on both sides have cast the operation—backed by Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV—as a possible model for future humanitarian evacuations.