'We came back from hell': Starved Ukrainians who ate grass in Russian-occupied Oleshky reach home after Melania Trump's truce
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.Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's ombudsman, with Russian Aerospace Forces personnel in Gomel, Belarus, after both commissioners jointly asked Melania Trump to lead further regular humanitarian missions once the evacuation…
Hundreds of starving civilians who had survived for months by eating grass and weeds crossed into Ukrainian-held territory on Saturday after a complex three-country evacuation route through Crimea, Russia and Belarus. Zelensky confirmed the crossing at the Chernihiv border, thanking Melania Trump for brokering the six-day ceasefire — the longest humanitarian pause since Russia's 2022 invasion. The oldest evacuee was 94; the youngest, just one year old.
One elderly man arrived in a wheelchair having lost 20 kg in a year; some residents were carried off buses on stretchers.
Svitlana Yermakova said she cycled through minefields to find food, while others cooked garden weeds — residents were offered a four-hour window to board 25 buses on Friday.
Zelensky wrote: 'When the world pays attention, people are rescued' — and called for 'further steps toward de-escalation and real progress toward peace.'
