THE FIRST LADY JUST WALKED ONTO THE FRONT LINE! The White House says Melania Trump has “successfully secured” a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, the BBC reported.
The White House called it a “front-line war city on the brink of disaster,” without medicine, food or clean water, and said the truce would begin on 29 October. Ukraine and Russia both confirmed the deal to evacuate residents and deliver aid, and both said their forces would stop firing at 02:00 GMT on 27 October.
How bad is it? Oleshky was seized in the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022 and sits trapped between Ukrainian positions across the Dnipro River and Russian forces to the east. Residents have resorted to eating garden weeds. The city has had no gas or electricity since 2023, and residents told the BBC only one hospital was partly working, a few days a week, to perform critical amputations. Ukraine estimates about 6,000 people remain in and around the city, including 200 children, down from 24,000 before the invasion.
The White House says the first lady and a representative worked “directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership” on the terms. “Residents who wish to evacuate will receive co-ordinated support and transportation to their preferred destination. I anticipate some will want to go to Russia, and some to Ukraine,” she said, adding that without her intervention, bringing in aid and evacuating the elderly “would be impossible.”
Kyiv’s Davyd Arakhamia said an operation to unblock Oleshky will begin “in the near future,” and the Kremlin’s spokesman confirmed “those who wish to do so will be able to leave.” The catch: the statement didn’t say how long the ceasefire will last.
Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration by Bugle Blast.
Sources: BBC News
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