Russia and Ukraine hold a rare Melania Trump-brokered truce as the evacuation of starving Oleshky gets under way
Residents of Oleshky meet a Ukrainian delegation, as evacuees face a gruelling onward route through Russian-occupied territory to Anapa, then by plane to Gomel in Belarus, before crossing into Ukraine's Chernihiv region.Civilians gathered in Oleshky, the Russian-occupied city where up to 6,000 people — including 200 children — survived for weeks on garden weeds and pigeons before Friday's evacuation convoy arrived.
Up to 6,000 civilians — including 200 children — have been trapped in Oleshky without regular food, water or electricity, reduced to cooking garden weeds and pigeons to survive. A convoy of 25 buses, ambulances and aid vehicles entered the Russian-occupied city on Friday under a localised ceasefire in the Kherson region, now in its fourth day, brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump after Pope Leo XIV called Vladimir Putin from his hospital bed three days after lung cancer surgery.
Ukrainian soldiers warn the ceasefire is cover for a major Russian offensive they expect to launch the moment the truce expires on Sunday.
Evacuees face a gruelling route through Russian-occupied territory to Anapa, then by plane to Gomel in Belarus, before crossing into Ukraine's Chernihiv region.
Two demining workers were killed clearing the 'Road of Death' out of Oleshky before the convoy could move.
