More than 750 civilians have been evacuated under a six-day humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine’s Kherson Region, arranged with the assistance of US First Lady Melania Trump and Pope Leo XIV.
The town of Alyoshki, located on the left bank of the Dnieper River opposite Ukrainian-held Kherson, had been home to an estimated 1,500 to 2,000 people trapped by repeated drone strikes and airdrops of mines on supply roads conducted by Ukrainian forces. These actions have been condemned for their impact on civilian safety.
The evacuation effort, set to expire Sunday evening, has provided civilians with the option to relocate within Russia or travel to Ukraine via Russia and Belarus. Evacuees described months of severe shortages and hardships under shelling they attributed to Ukrainian military operations.
