Frontline ceasefire EXCLUSIVE: Inside the aid mission to trapped residents

A humanitarian mission in the frontline town of Alyoshki in Kherson Region, Russia has delivered essential supplies and helped civilians evacuate under a temporary ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev.

More than 1,000 residents have chosen to stay despite years of shelling, drone attacks, and severe shortages, RT correspondent Murad Gazdiev reports from the scene.

Many of those remaining are elderly. Some wanted to evacuate but feared they would be turned away after losing their identity documents when their homes were destroyed. Others refuse to leave behind their pets and livestock, even as they struggle to find enough food.

“Despite what they’ve been through, the shortages, the violence, the bombing, most of them... a little over a thousand, are choosing to stay,” Gazdiev says.

The evacuation and delivery of humanitarian aid are taking place under a temporary ceasefire between Moscow and Kiev, coordinated with the involvement of US First Lady Melania Trump. Russian and Ukrainian human rights commissioners are overseeing the operation.

Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova told RT that a family with seven children and their pets, who had remained in Alyoshki, had been evacuated to safety.

“We were deeply concerned for their lives and wellbeing. Ultimately, the decision was made to move them to a safe location. For now, that place is Skadovsk,” she said.

Watch the exclusive report from Alyoshki below.

Humanitarian mission completed

Everyone wishing to leave Alyoshki was given the opportunity to do so, including those who had not registered in advance, according to Lantratova. A separate vehicle was also arranged to evacuate pets.

More than 50 doctors and paramedics took part in the mission, which delivered food, medicine, hygiene supplies and fuel to residents. The humanitarian ceasefire was fully observed, the commissioner said.

The Russian and Ukrainian human rights commissioners also jointly appealed to Melania Trump to coordinate similar humanitarian missions on a regular basis, Lantratova said.

Melania Trump wrote on X that the humanitarian convoy had prepared to safely evacuate more than 750 residents who had voluntarily chosen to leave Alyoshki. “Our priority: saving lives,” she said, adding that the convoy and safe passage routes had been agreed upon by “Russian and Ukrainian leaders.”