MELANIA TRUMP SAYS SECURED CEASEFIRE IN UKRAINIAN CITY OF OLESHKY

US First Lady Melania Trump has announced that she has successfully secured a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the ravaged city of Oleshky, where citizens are trapped and short of food.

The ceasefire announcement was made in a statement on Friday, with the truce set to begin on October 29.

THE ANNOUNCEMENT

“Oleshky is a frontline war city on the brink of disaster,” she said in the statement. “It was abundantly clear that without my intervention, the possibility to bring humanitarian aid into the city and to evacuate the elderly would be impossible”.

The White House statement said Melania Trump and her representative had worked “directly with Russian and Ukrainian leadership to define the terms of the localised ceasefire”.

“Non-military, civilian leaders from both countries will work together to visit Oleshky residents in their homes and determine the level of assistance they require,” she is quoted as saying.

“Residents who wish to evacuate will receive coordinated support and transportation to their preferred destination. I anticipate some will want to go to Russia, and some to Ukraine” .She added that Oleshky residents “have limited electricity, live amid mined roads, and endure regular military attacks” .

THE CONFIRMATIONS

Ukraine and Russia later confirmed the ceasefire was agreed.Davyd Arakhamia, a Ukrainian MP who heads President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party in parliament, said “an operation to unblock the settlement of Oleshky and its surroundings will begin in the near future”.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman confirmed the truce had been agreed. “The military is currently working to coordinate the timings of a ceasefire,” Dmitry Peskov said.

“Those who wish to do so will be able to leave this settlement”.

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THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

Oleshky, in the Kherson region, was seized by Russian forces during the first days of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Remaining residents have recently resorted to eating garden weeds to survive .Last month, some of the remaining Oleshky residents told the BBC harrowing accounts of how they were surviving in the city that was being constantly shelled and cut off from food and water.

They said that children remaining in wider Oleshky were suffering from malnutrition, a lack of medical services and were “degrading” without access to education .

Many also told the BBC there was only one hospital partially operational, opening a few days a week to perform critical amputations. The local population was living under a “full blockade” by Russian forces, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha .

WHY IT MATTERS

The ceasefire in Oleshky is a rare moment of humanitarian progress in a war that has killed thousands and displaced millions.

It is also a significant achievement for Melania Trump, who has largely maintained a low profile during her husband’s presidency.

Her intervention, working directly with both Russian and Ukrainian leadership, has opened a corridor for aid and evacuation in a city that was on the brink of catastrophe.The truce is localized and temporary. But for the elderly residents of Oleshky, it is a lifeline.

ValidViewNetwork reports that the ceasefire begins on October 29. The world will be watching to see if it holds.