Ukrainian evacuees from the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky reunited with their families in Chernihiv region after crossing from Belarus, according to the BBC. Families cried and embraced relatives they had not seen for years. Some elderly residents were carried on stretchers.
The report says the residents had been trapped without food, water and electricity, and that many had resorted to cooking garden weeds to survive. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked US First Lady Melania Trump for her efforts in brokering a local ceasefire that allowed the evacuation on Friday.
Evacuees first travelled through Russian-occupied territory to southern Russia, flew to Belarus, and were then driven across Ukraine's northern border on Saturday. The BBC reports that the oldest evacuee was 94 and the youngest was one, according to Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights ombudsman.
The report says a convoy of 25 buses, with space for 750 people, left Oleshky on Friday afternoon, along with ambulances. Several hundred residents are understood to have stayed behind. Russia said it had prepared "dozens of tonnes" of aid for those who chose to remain.
Lubinets travelled to Oleshky with his Russian counterpart, Yana Lantratova, to coordinate the evacuation. The report notes that some in Ukraine have criticised his cooperation with a representative of the Russian occupying power. Lubinets said he acted to save lives.
A humanitarian ceasefire in the Kherson region took effect on Tuesday and will remain in place until the end of Sunday, 1 November. The report states that Russia's attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure have continued, and that negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and the US are due to resume ceasefire talks in Abu Dhabi in early November.