Planes carrying residents evacuated from the Russian-controlled Ukrainian town of Oleshky landed at Gomel airport in Belarus on Saturday, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported, according to Reuters.
The evacuees, who wished to leave for Ukraine, had travelled by bus on Friday via the Crimean peninsula to the Russian town of Anapa before flying on to Belarus. From there, they will proceed to Ukraine through a border crossing.
The evacuation formed part of a joint relief operation by the opposing sides, the first of its kind in four years and eight months of war. Residents were described as starving and exhausted.
The operation took place during a local ceasefire in Ukraine’s Kherson region that began on Tuesday and is expected to continue through Sunday evening. The town’s remaining residents, estimated at around 2,000, were offered the choice of travelling to Ukrainian- or Russian-held territory, or staying with replenished food and medical supplies. A convoy of 25 buses was deployed.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets and his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova supervised the operation, and the White House has said US First Lady Melania Trump helped broker the truce.
The exact number of people evacuated has not yet been officially confirmed.
Sources: Reuters report and Al Jazeera report (credit: Reuters and Al Jazeera).
Note: The featured image is illustrative only and is not a photo of the evacuation.
