Four aircraft carrying Ukrainian civilians evacuated from the Russian-controlled town of Oleshky landed in Gomel, Belarus, on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. The evacuees, who expressed a desire to return to government-controlled Ukraine, traveled by bus through the Crimean peninsula to the Russian port city of Anapa before boarding flights to Belarus. According to Ukrainian parliamentary leader David Arakhamia and the Belarusian state news agency Belta, the residents will proceed to Ukraine via an overland border crossing within hours.
The extraction was part of a localized humanitarian truce that began at 3:00 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, and is scheduled to last until 10:59 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1. Officials stated the ceasefire was mediated by U.S. First Lady Melania Trump with involvement from the pope. This operation, described by Ukrainian officials as the first of its kind in over four years of conflict, allowed for the de-mining of roads and the delivery of aid to Oleshky, where supply routes had been disrupted by drones and fighting since May.
A Ukrainian humanitarian delegation led by Dmytro Lubinets, the Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, coordinated the mission with Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova. A fleet of 25 buses, ambulances, and other vehicles was deployed to the town, where approximately 1,700 to 2,000 residents remained out of a pre-war population of 24,000. While some residents chose to travel toward Ukrainian-held territory, others opted to move deeper into Russia or remain in Oleshky with replenished supplies. Melania Trump reported on social media that the convoy could safely evacuate more than 750 people.
The localized truce and evacuation affect the approximately 1,700 to 2,000 civilians remaining in Oleshky, many of whom are reported to be elderly, ill, or individuals with disabilities. For these residents, the mission represents a change from months of isolation; some reported that food deliveries had ceased in May, leading to starvation. The 87-hour pause in hostilities allowed for the delivery of essential pharmaceuticals, infant nutrition, and food packages to those who chose to stay, while providing a transit route for hundreds of others to reach either Ukraine or Russia.
The scale of the mission involved a 25-bus humanitarian fleet and four charter aircraft to transport the 750 or more evacuees across a 450-kilometer (280-mile) route through Crimea and Russia to reach Belarus. This sets a precedent for localized diplomacy, as Ukrainian and Russian military commands both committed to suspending artillery fire, combat aviation, and drone operations in a specific sector to facilitate the aid. The U.S. State Department’s concurrent approval of a $2.1 billion sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine highlights the broader context of ongoing military support despite the temporary humanitarian pause.
The next steps for the evacuees involve a final bus transfer from Gomel, Belarus, across the northern border into Ukraine, which officials expected to complete by Saturday evening. The localized ceasefire in the Oleshky pocket is scheduled to expire on Sunday, Nov. 1, at 10:59 p.m. In the broader conflict, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the U.S. to expedite the delivery of Patriot interceptors from existing stockpiles, as the newly approved sale of 500 missiles is projected by some officials to take years to complete.