Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky return to Ukraine telling of hunger, landmines and a soldier demanding moonshine at gunpoint
Residents evacuated from Russian-occupied Oleshky have now crossed the border into Ukraine and are safe, in a picture posted on X by Anton Gerashchenko.Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky, whose residents survived on grass and lost 20 kg or more before Saturday's evacuation, which President Volodymyr Zelensky said was brokered with direct help from the United States and Melania Trump.Rescue workers carry caged cats evacuated from Oleshky; some returnees from the occupied city were so weakened by starvation they had to be carried off buses on stretchers.A heavily damaged commercial building amid rubble in Oleshky, the Russian-occupied city whose civilians were evacuated on Saturday via a complex route through Crimea, Russia's Anapa and Belarus.
Dozens of Oleshky residents returned to Ukrainian-controlled territory after a days-long journey through Russia and Belarus, arriving gaunt, wounded and flag-draped at a reception facility in northern Ukraine. Many bore visible injuries, some had lost limbs, and several were taken directly from the buses into waiting ambulances. Iva Sidash Raya, 63, described trembling as a Russian soldier armed with an automatic rifle forced his way into her home and demanded moonshine, leaving her so shaken it took two days to recover.
Survivors described life under occupation as marked by severe hunger, landmines and constant threat from killer drones.
Despite the grief etched on their faces, evacuees chanted 'Slava Ukraini' and embraced onlookers as they stepped off the convoy of buses.
One man on crutches, limping from the bus, paused to plant an enthusiastic kiss on each cheek of the woman who greeted him.
