Hundreds evacuated from Oleshky as Melania Trump brokers rare Russia-Ukraine ceasefire

Hundreds of residents have been evacuated from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian town of Oleshky following a humanitarian ceasefire brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump, with three planes carrying evacuees landing at an airport in Belarus on Saturday, according to media reports.The residents, who wished to return to Ukraine, were taken by bus through the Crimean peninsula to the Russian town of Anapa before being flown to Gomel in Belarus. They will travel onwards to Ukraine through a border crossing, Belarusian state news agency Belta reported, according to Reuters.The evacuation took place on Friday as part of a joint relief operation involving the opposing sides, marking the first operation of its kind in four years and eight months of the war. Residents were reportedly starving and exhausted.According to the BBC, Russian and Ukrainian authorities confirmed that hundreds of people had been evacuated from the devastated town.