Evacuees from Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine arrived in Belarus on Saturday on their way back to Ukraine, part of a major rescue operation carried out under the most significant truce since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine 41/2 years ago.

The ceasefire in Ukraine's southern Kherson region, which the White House says was brokered with help from U.S. first lady Melania Trump, began at 3 a.m. Tuesday and is expected to continue through Sunday evening.

It was a rare joint Russia-Ukraine humanitarian effort, a brief respite in the grim war.