Residents evacuated from the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky have arrived in Belarus, and Ukrainian authorities expect them back in Ukraine later on Saturday, according to officials cited by the BBC.
The evacuation took place on Friday during a local ceasefire that the report says was brokered by US First Lady Melania Trump. Belarusian state media and a senior Ukrainian official said planes carrying the residents landed in the Belarusian city of Gomel on Saturday morning.
David Arakhamia, a key Ukrainian official, said: "The last, fourth plane landed in Gomel (Belarus). In a few hours, all Ukrainian citizens evacuated from Oleshky, together with the Ukrainian delegation, will be on Ukrainian territory."
Belarusian state news agency Belta reported that a bus convoy of Oleshky residents had left Gomel airport and was heading toward the Ukrainian border.
According to the report, evacuees first travelled through Russian-occupied territory, including Crimea, and then to the southern Russian city of Anapa, where they flew to Gomel. A convoy of 25 buses, with space for 750 people, left the town on Friday afternoon, along with ambulances for people with limited mobility. The report says several hundred people chose to stay in the city, which lacks gas, electricity and running water.
Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, said on Friday that those who stayed "will receive all the necessary humanitarian assistance." He travelled to Oleshky with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova. The report says Lubinets is the first Ukrainian official since the start of the war to visit Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. Some people in Ukraine have criticised his appearance alongside a Russian representative, the report says.
Russia said on Thursday that it had prepared "dozens of tonnes" of aid for residents who remain, the report says. The ceasefire, which allowed the road out of Oleshky to be demined, will remain in place until the end of Sunday, 1 November.