Key facts
- The White House credited Melania Trump with independently initiating talks between the two countries and securing the localized truce.
- The White House called the Oleshky evacuation effort an unprecedented diplomatic initiative by an American first lady.
- Melania Trump said nearly 800 people were evacuated, a figure neither Ukraine nor Russia confirmed.
- A Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent that Dmytro Lubinets and Yana Lantratova would attend the November 5 meeting.
- Lantratova has been under US sanctions since 2022 and would need a State Department waiver to enter the country.
- The Kremlin has ruled out further humanitarian operations of this kind in the foreseeable future.
First lady Melania Trump will bring representatives of Ukraine and Russia to the White House on November 5, where she will deliver remarks on the recent ceasefire in Oleshky, the White House announced on November 3.
The first lady was credited by the White House with helping broker a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia that lasted from 3 a.m. on October 27 until 11 p.m. local time on November 1 and allowed civilians who wished to evacuate Russian-occupied Oleshky in Ukraine's southern Kherson Oblast to do so. The White House called the effort "an unprecedented diplomatic initiative by an American first lady."
The humanitarian situation in Oleshky, under Russian occupation since 2022, worsened in mid-2026. Residents were deliberately deprived of food and water by Russian occupying forces and faced drone attacks when attempting to leave the town, according to the report. Under international humanitarian law, Russia is obligated to protect civilians living in territories under its occupation.
The first lady called the ceasefire a "success" and said "nearly 800 people" had been evacuated, but neither Ukraine nor Russia publicly confirmed exactly how many people left or where they relocated. The Kremlin has publicly ruled out further such humanitarian operations in the foreseeable future.
The White House did not specify which representatives from Ukraine and Russia would join the first lady, and Kyiv and Moscow have not commented publicly. A Ukrainian official told the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine's ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, and Russia's Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova would be in attendance. Lantratova has been sanctioned by the US government since 2022 and cannot legally enter the country without a sanctions waiver from the US State Department.
The announcement came as Russia bombed an aid distribution center and neighboring shelter in southern Ukraine on Monday, killing 26 people, a day after the ceasefire ended.