Evacuation of Russian-Occupied Oleshky Completed Without Incident

The evacuation of the Russian-occupied frontline city of Oleschky was completed on Friday without incident, enabled by a three-day local ceasefire that ended the city's de facto starvation. The operation was mediated by Pope Leo XIV and US First Lady Melania Trump. Russian and Ukrainian human rights ombudspeople coordinated the evacuation, providing 25 buses with over 750 seats and nine ambulances for bedridden patients. Even unregistered residents were allowed to leave, with the convoy splitting in Armjansk to travel to either Russian-held Crimea or Ukrainian-controlled territory. Up to 2,000 residents remained in the city, which had suffered catastrophic conditions including flooding, shortages of food, water, and medical care. Two people died during mine clearance before the operation. Fighting continued elsewhere, with Russia striking Kyiv's energy infrastructure and Ukrainian drones targeting Russian refineries despite reports of a US-brokered pause.