Evacuees Cross Into Chernigiv Region

The Oleshky evacuation brought residents of the Russian-occupied town back to Ukrainian-controlled soil on Saturday, completing a route that took them through Belarus during a rare truce brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump. Buses carrying the Ukraine evacuees stopped in the northern Chernigiv region, where those stepping off greeted relatives and onlookers in jubilant scenes after years cut off behind the front line.

Zelensky Thanks Melania Trump

President Volodymyr Zelensky marked the arrival with a statement on X, saying the residents would "receive the assistance they need" and thanking the "American side and US First Lady Melania Trump for their mediation".

Melania Trump announced the ceasefire on October 23, describing the town as 'on the brink of disaster' and saying that without her intervention, bringing aid to its beleaguered residents would have been "impossible".

Officials Visit Oleshky Together

The day before the evacuees reached Chernigiv, Ukrainian and Russian officials visited Oleshky together on Friday, delivering aid and marshalling those who wanted to leave. The visit took place under a truce whose terms were narrow in scope and fixed in time:

• •It covers the Kherson region only.
• •It began early Tuesday.
• •It is scheduled to end on Sunday evening.

Longest Front-Line Pause Since 2022

For all its limited reach, the Kherson truce marks the longest pause in fighting between Russia and Ukraine anywhere on the front line since Russia invaded in February 2022. Oleshky, in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, was captured by the Russian military in 2022, and the residents who signed up to leave had lived under occupation since then.

Neither Moscow nor Kyiv has specified the number of people evacuated, and both indicated that many residents wished to remain even in the event of renewed fighting. The truce is scheduled to end on Sunday evening.