Oleshky residents leave under Melania Trump's ceasefire but must travel through Russia and Belarus to reach Ukraine just 5km away

Up to 750 residents have a four-hour window to board 25 buses out of Oleshky, a Russian-occupied city of around 2,000 where people have resorted to eating foraged weeds and wild pigeons to stay alive. Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman — the first Ukrainian official to set foot in Russia since the war began — is on the ground overseeing the operation alongside his Russian counterpart Yana Lantratova.

Evacuees must travel via the Russian city of Anapa, then take a government flight to Gomel in Belarus, before crossing into Ukraine's Chernihiv region.

Ukrainian soldiers are warning the Melania-brokered ceasefire is 'cover for a Russian offensive', with drone footage reportedly showing mass military preparations ahead of the truce's Sunday expiry.

Pope Leo XIV pressed Putin from his hospital bed to allow the mission, which demining teams cleared at a cost of two workers' lives.