File photo: US President Donald Trump, with First Lady Melania Trump
Melania Trump said nearly 800 people had been evacuated during the operation. She was scheduled to deliver remarks on the initiative at 11 am EST. The US first lady had described the ceasefire as a step towards lasting peace.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has awarded US First Lady Melania Trump a state honour for her role in helping organise a humanitarian evacuation from the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky last week, according to a presidential decree published on Wednesday. In a post on X on Sunday, she said the truce across Oleshky and the surrounding Kherson region had given residents access to food, clean water and medicine, while allowing them to move without the constant threat of attack. The White House had announced on Tuesday that Melania Trump would host representatives from Russia and Ukraine on Thursday to discuss the ceasefire and the humanitarian operation.
A Ukrainian official told The Kyiv Independent that Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and Russia’s human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova were expected to attend. He also said people requiring evacuation had been moved out of the town and surrounding community. Ukrainian citizens from Oleshky had crossed into Ukrainian-controlled territory through the border in the Chernihiv region and would receive the necessary assistance.