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GOMEL, BELARUS - OCT. 31, 2026: Three planes carrying evacuated residents from the Russian-controlled city of Oleshky in Ukraine’s southern Kherson region have arrived in Belarus, state media reported Saturday.
Belarusian state news agency Belta reported that the residents arrived in the country’s southeastern city of Gomel after flying from the town of Anapa in Russia’s Krasnodar region, where they had arrived by bus.
The report said emergency personnel, medical staff and Red Cross volunteers immediately began providing assistance to the evacuated residents arriving at Gomel Airport.
It noted that the evacuated Oleshky residents would wait at the airport before departing for the Novaya Guta border crossing between Belarus and Ukraine, through which they would enter Ukraine.
“In just a few hours, all Ukrainian citizens evacuated from Oleshky, together with the Ukrainian delegation, will be on Ukrainian territory,” Ukrainian lawmaker David Arakhamia separately wrote on Telegram.
The residents’ arrival came a day after Arakhamia announced that Ukraine’s delegation, together with evacuated residents of Oleshky, had set off for Anapa, from where they would then head to Belarus.
Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova said the same day that the humanitarian mission in Oleshky had been completed, adding that the convoys that entered the settlement were “now splitting up, heading in different directions.”
Lantratova proposed making humanitarian missions coordinated by US first lady Melania Trump a regular initiative, saying the Oleshky operation and cooperation with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Lubinets had shown that such arrangements could help civilians “even under difficult conditions.”
A ceasefire brokered by the US first lady between Russia and Ukraine in Oleshky, which Moscow took control of in 2022, took effect at 0100GMT Tuesday to facilitate humanitarian aid deliveries and civilian evacuations. It will remain in effect until 10.59 pm local time (2059GMT) Sunday.