Truce begins in wartorn Ukraine city after it was announced by Melania Trump

What the report says

A truce has taken effect in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky, according to BBC World News, a week after it was announced by US First Lady Melania Trump. The ceasefire is intended to permit humanitarian aid deliveries and the evacuation of civilians from the city, which sits on the south bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson region.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had paused fire toward nearby Kherson at 04:00 Moscow time in preparation for the operation. Ukraine’s human rights commissioner, Dmytro Lubinets, also said on social media that the ceasefire had begun and that the Ukrainian side was honoring its commitments. The BBC noted that Oleshky was captured by Russia in the early days of its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The report said the city had about 24,000 residents before the war, while Ukraine now estimates roughly 6,000 people remain in the city and surrounding area, including 200 children. Residents have reportedly faced severe shortages of food and other essentials because the area has been caught between front lines.

The White House has said Melania Trump helped secure the arrangement, and that civilian representatives from both sides would work to assess residents’ needs. The BBC also placed the development in the context of her recent involvement in humanitarian issues linked to the war in Ukraine.