Kremlin envoy Kirill Dmitriev gave Melania Trump a child’s drawing during a White House meeting devoted to the humanitarian operation and ceasefire in the occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky.
The drawing depicts a girl who left Oleshky with her family for Russia. It bears the inscription: “I love Melania.”
Dmitriev said he was speaking on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin and described the First Lady’s role as a humanitarian mission in which “agreements are turned into action.” “And actions save lives,” he added.
34 children reunited with their families
Also attending the meeting were Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets and Davyd Arakhamia, chairman of the parliamentary group of the “Servant of the People” party in the Verkhovna Rada.
Dmitriev said that 34 children had been reunited with their families in Ukraine and Russia. Ukrainian authorities had not independently confirmed the figure. It matches the number announced by the White House in August as the result of Melania Trump’s initiative to reunite children with their families.
Dmitriev credited the Russian and Ukrainian security services and military structures involved in the operation. He also singled out Marc Beckman, a senior adviser to the First Lady. According to him, humanitarian aid to Oleshky should continue, regardless of the fact that some residents have remained in the city while others have left it.
Melania Trump receives Ukrainian state order
Melania Trump said she learned about the severe humanitarian situation in Oleshky in September. She said she had taken part in all stages of the planning, including assessing roads, evacuation routes, access to hospitals, vehicles and medical resources.
“I recognized the urgency and acted immediately,” Melania Trump said.Oleshky is located on the left bank of the Dnipro River, about 5 kilometers southeast of Kherson. The city has been under Russian occupation since the first days of Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Before the ceasefire, its residents had been without clean drinking water, food and medicine since at least May 26.
Davyd Arakhamia said the initiative had begun with Melania Trump and her team. He described the ceasefire as the largest since the start of the full-scale war and said that initial distrust had gradually given way to trust.
During the meeting, Ukrainian representatives presented the First Lady with the Order of Princess Olga, First Class. The honor was awarded by Decree No. 1079/2026, signed by Volodymyr Zelensky on November 2, for her humanitarian, human rights and charitable work.
Zelensky: When Putin wants a halt to the fighting, it stops
In a separate statement at the Ibero-American Summit in Madrid, Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the humanitarian operation in Oleshky had ended. He said that there had been complete silence during the ceasefire and that no attacks had been carried out.
“This operation demonstrated one very simple thing: when Putin wants the fighting to stop, it stops,” Zelensky said.The five-day ceasefire began on October 27 and officially ended on November 1. At the end of the White House meeting, Melania Trump handed personal letters to Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky through Dmitriev and Arakhamia. Their contents were not disclosed.
Sources: kyivpost.com