Melania Trump brokers localized Russia-Ukraine ceasefire, White House says

First lady Melania Trump has secured a localized ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in the front-line city of Oleshky, the White House said in a press release Friday morning.

The ceasefire will begin Thursday with both nations agreeing to temporarily stop all military action in the city “to allow for humanitarian aid to enter and to prepare a civilian evacuation through a designated safe passageway,” the release said.

“The situation in Oleshky is dire. Oleshky is a front-line war city on the brink of disaster. Oleshky’s remaining population is comprised primarily of elderly residents who urgently need medical attention, medicine, food, and clean water,” the first lady said in the release.

“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,” she added.

The Ukrainian Embassy confirmed to The Hill a ceasefire was reached for Oleshky.

On Tuesday, the Ukrainian and Norwegian embassies co-hosted a briefing about the situation in Oleshky, the Ukrainian Embassy posted on social platform X .

“Some 25,000 people lived in Oleshky before the full-scale invasion. About 2,000 remain, including 35 children. They have gone years without electricity, gas, heating, or running water,” it wrote in the post. “No food has been officially delivered since May 26, 2026, and the only supply route runs through mined territory under shelling.”

In Friday’s release, the first lady said non-military, civilian leaders from Ukraine and Russia will work together to visit the homes of residents in the war-torn city to determine the level of assistance required.

“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 said.

Oleshky is in Ukraine’s southern Kherson Oblast on the east bank of the Dnieper River. The city had a prewar population of around 24,000 people and was pulled to the front line after Ukraine liberated western Kherson Oblast in November 2022, according to a report from the Institute for the Study of War .

With much of its population displaced or evacuated, the city now has about 1,700 to 2,000 remaining residents, according to the White House release.