Residents evacuated from Russian-occupied Oleshky were in Belarus Saturday after the final plane landed in Gomel, Ukrainian lawmaker Davyd Arakhamia said, while Ukraine still had no confirmed headcount.
Arakhamia expected the evacuees and a Ukrainian delegation to reach Ukrainian-controlled territory later that day. His update did not confirm that they had crossed from Belarus into Ukraine.
Russia's Ministry of Defense said the Ukraine-bound evacuees traveled to Anapa before boarding a flight to Gomel, the Associated Press reported.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers said Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi's earlier estimate of people expected to leave was inaccurate and that official figures would follow after the operation. Hromadske reported that Koretskyi had initially expected 527 people to be evacuated. RBC-Ukraine later reported that more than 750 had left, but the Cabinet has not confirmed that number.
Ukraine's human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said organizers had arranged 25 buses that together could carry 750 passengers, along with ambulances for people with limited mobility. That describes planned capacity, not a confirmed evacuation count. Lubinets said residents could choose to leave or remain, with humanitarian assistance available to those who stayed.
The White House said U.S. first lady Melania Trump secured the localized ceasefire to allow aid deliveries and civilian departures. It said most residents who remained in Oleshky were older people in need of medical help and basic supplies, amid limited electricity, mined roads and regular military attacks.
The White House's Oct. 23 announcement had set Oct. 29 as the start date. The Associated Press reported that Melania Trump said the pause began two days earlier to protect civilians and help get aid into the city.
The latest update followed earlier departures under the truce, covered by EconoTimes as residents began setting out on a planned route through Russia and Belarus.
Lubinets said the ceasefire took effect Oct. 27 at 3 a.m. Kyiv time (01:00 UTC) and is scheduled to end Sunday, Nov. 1, at 3:59 p.m. EST (20:59 UTC; 10:59 p.m. Kyiv time), the next stated deadline for the mission.
